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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

John Barton Payne, Secretary 



■rf 



United States Geological Survey 

George Otis Smith, Director 



Water-SuppIy Paper 466 



GROUND WATER IN THE 
SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONNECTICUT 



;^'j 



BT 



HAROLD S. PALMER 



»' 



Prepared in cooperation with the 

CONNECTICUT GEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 
Herbert E. Gregory, Superintendent 




» • 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1921 



"ii 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

MAY 7 M ftp 1 



►■ 



► 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Introduction 7 

The problem 7 

History of the investigation 8 

Reliability of data 8 

Geography 10 

Topography 10 

General features 10 

The highland 11 

The lowland 11 

Climate 12 

Surface waters 15 

Woodlands 17 

Population and industries 18 

Geologic history 20 

Water-bearing formations 23 

Glacial drift 24 

Till 24 

Stratified drift 26 

Criteria for differentiation of till and stratified drift 28 

Occurrence and circulation of ground water 28 

Triassic sedimentary rocks 30 

Distribution 30 

Lithology and stratigraphy 30 

Occurrence of ground water 32 

Water in pores 32 

Water in bedding planes 32 

Water in joints 32 

Water in fault zones. 33 

Triassic trap rocks 33 

Distribution 33 

Lithology 33 

Occurrence of ground water 34 

Crystalline rocks 34 

Distribution 34 

Lithology 35 

Schists 35 

Gneisses of igneous origin 35 

Gneisses of complex origin 35 

Occurrence and circulation of ground water 36 

Water in lamellar spaces 36 

Water in joints and along faults 36 

Artesian conditions 36 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Springs 38 

Seepage springs 38 

Stratum springs 38 

Fault and joint springs 39 

Relation of springs to wells 39 

Recovery of ground water 39 

Dug wells 39 

Construction 39 

Lifting devices 40 

Bailing devices 41 

Pumps 41 

Siphon and gravity rigs 43 

Rams 44 

Windmills and air-pressure tanks 46^ 

Pumping tests on dug wells 46 

Infiltration galleries 50 

Driven wells 51 

Drilled wells 52 

Springs 54 

Ground water for pul^lic supply 55 

Quality of ground water 58 

Analyses and assays 58 

Constituents determined by analysis 59 

Values computed 59 

Accuracy of analyses and assays 61 

Chemical character of water 61 

Interpretation of analyses and assays 61 

Water for Ijoiler use 61 

Water for domestic use 63 

Contamination 64 

Tal)ulations 64 

Temperature of ground water 65 

Detailed descriptions of towns 66 

Avon 66 

Barkhamsted 73 

Bristol 81 

Burlington 95 

Canton 102 

Cheshire 110 

Farmington 118 

Granhy 129 

Hartland 136 

Ilarwinton 142 

New Britain 149 

New Hartford 159 

Plainville 166 

Plymouth 177 

Prospect 185 

Simsbury 191 

Southington 199 

Wolcott 207 

Index 215 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



► 



Page- 
Plate I. Map of Connecticut showing physiographic divisions and areas cov- 
ered by water-supply papers of the United States Geological Sur- 
vey 8 

II. Geologic map of the Southington-Granby area, Conn In pocket. 

III. Topographic map of the Southington-Granby area, Conn., showing 
distribution of woodlands and locations of wells and springs 
cited In pocket. 

IV. A, View looking northwest from northeastern part of Harwinton, 

showing dissected plateau and, in the distance, a scarp of the higher 
plateau; B, Stratified drift in Pequabuck Valley, 1^ miles east of 
Terryville station 22 

V. A, Faulted and folded stratified drift in the fill of Pequabuck Valley; 

B, Kettle hole at Burlington Center 84 

VI. yl, Yellow pine {Pinus rigida) near Farmington station; 5, White 

pine {Pinus strohus) near Granby station 120 

VII. ^4, The Windrow, an esker near East Hartland; B, Perched glacial 
boulder of pegmatite resting on a ledge of schist, near East Hart- 
land 138 

Figure 1. Mean monthly precipitation at Canton 12 

2. Mean monthly precipitation at Southington 12 

3. Mean monthly precipitation at West Simsbury 13 

4. Mean monthly precipitation at Shuttle Meadow, New Britain 13 

5. Mean annual precipitation at Canton, Southington, West Simsbury, 

Shuttle Meadow, and Greenwood Pond 14 

6. Mean monthly precipitation at Greenwood Pond, New Hartford, 

and New Britain : 14 

7. Map showing the density of population in the Southington-Granby 

area in 1910 18 

8. Map showing the density. of population in the Southington-Granby 

area in 1850 18 

9. Diagram showing the usual relation of the water table to hills and 

valleys 30 

10. Diagram showing the relation of the water table on hills to the 

water table in valleys in glaciated regions 30 

11 . Columnar section of the Triassic formations of Connecticut 31 

12. Diagram showing conditions under which artesian waters may 

exist in the sandstone and shale of Connecticut 37 

13. Diagram showing two types of installation of " house pumps " 42 

14. Diagram showing siphon well and domestic waterworks 45 

15. Diagram showing recovery of E. L. Upson's well, Southington, 

after pumping, and relation of inflow to drawdown 48 

16. Diagram showing recovery of H. W. Cleveland's well, Plymouth, 

after pumping 50 

17. Diagrams showing two types of air lift 52 

18. Section across Avon 67 

5 



6 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

l*age 

Figure 19. Profile through Barkhamsted 75 

20. Map of Foreetville 86 

21. Relations at well No. 29, Burlington 99 

22. Section across Canton and into Simsbury 104 

23. Profile of Ilartland 137 

24. Diagrammatic profile of Ilartland Hollow 138 

25. Section across New Britain 150 

2G. Diagram showing probable relation of the flowing well of the Traut 

& I line Manufacturing Co., New Britain, to the trap sheet 152 

27. Profile of water table from Pequabuck River southward through 

Plainville to Quinnipiac River 170 

28. Map of Plainville 176 

29. Section through Meriden West Peak 200 

30. Section across Southington 201 



GROUND WATER IN THE SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, 

CONNECTICUT. 



, By Harold S. Palmier. 



INTRODUCTION. 

THE PROBLEM. 

The census of 1910 reported the population of Connecticut as 
1,114,756. The area of the State is 5,004 square miles. The average 
density of population is therefore about 220 per square mile, but the 
distribution of population is very uneven. More than 53 per cent 
of the inhabitants are gathered into 19 cities, each containing over 
10,000. The cities are rapidly increasing in population, but parts 
of the State — about 24 per cent of the towns — are more sparsely 
settled to-day than in 1860. In a broad sense, the people of Con- 
necticut are engaged in two occupations — manufacturing and mixed 
agriculture. Manufactiu-ing is increasing at a rapid rate; agricul- 
ture at a slower rate, but with a distinct tendency toward speciali- 
zation. There is in addition a tendency to utilize the scenery of the 
State — a tendency resulting in the development of country estates 
and shore homes. 

As the stage of culture in a region rises it is necessary progressively 
to improve and increase the water supplies. Wild tribes are satis- 
fied with the waters of springs and streams. Pastoral peoples need 
somewhat more water. Agricultural regions must have water at 
those points where it may be conveniently used; weUs are made, 
springs are improved, and surface waters diverted to provide water 
at the points of utilization. In some arid regions extensive projects 
are constructed to supply irrigation water, as weU as to supply water 
for domestic purposes and for watering stock. Industrial and mer- 
cantile communities, inasmuch as they are characterized by con- 
centration of population in cities, demand a great deal of water, not 
only for human consumption but also for innumerable technical 
purposes. 

With an annual precipitation of 45 inches, Connecticut has in the 
aggregate large supplies of both surface and ground water, but the 
precipitation is sometimes deficient through periods of several weeks 
or months. Consequently farmers must endure periods of drought, 

7 



8 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

manufacturers must provide against fluctuating water power, and 
the inhabitants of congested districts must arrange for adequate 
public supplies. With increase in population and diversification of 
interests conflicts between water-power usei*s and domestic consumers, 
as well as between towns, for the right to make use of a particular 
stream or area have already arisen. Demands are also being made 
by prospective users of the waters for irrigation and drainage. The 
question of quality of water also takes on new meaning with the 
effort to improve the healthfulness of the State and to reclaim the 
waters now polluted by factory waste and sewage. The necessity 
for obtaining small but unfailing supplies of potable water for the 
farm and for the village home furnishes an additional problem, for 
the condition of many private supplies in Comiecticut is deplorable. 
To meet the present situation and to provide for the future. State- 
wide regulations should be adopted. Obviously the first step in the 
solution of the Connecticut water problem is to make a comprehen- 
sive study of both surface and gromid waters to obtain answers to 
the following questions : How much water is stored in the gravels and 
sands and bedrock of the State ? How much does the amoimt fluc- 
tuate with the seasons? What is the quality of the water? How 
may it best be recovered in large amounts? In small amoimts? 
What is the expense of procuring it? How much water may the 
streams of the State be relied upon to furnish? How much is the 
stream water polluted ? How may the pollution be remedied ? To 
what use should each stream be devoted ? What is the equitable 
distribution of ground and surface watei's among the conflicting 
claimants — industries and communities ? 

HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATION. 

The study of the water resources of Connecticut was begun in 1903 
by Herbert E. Gregory, under the auspices of the United States 
Geological Survey. A prehminary report was issued in 1904.^ A 
discussion of the fundamental problems relating to the State as a 
whole, published in 1909,^ meets in a broad way the requirements of 
the scientist and the engineer, but it is not designed to furnish a 
solution for local problems and is not sufficiently detailed to furnish 
data for use in a quantitative study of ultimate supply and its utili- 
zation. It was recognized that conditions in the State are so varied 
that each section of the State has its individual problem, and that in 
order to obtain data of direct practical value the conditions in each 
town and, where feasible, around each farm and each village should 
be investigated. 

' Gregory, H. K., Notes on the wells, springs, and general water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Oeol. 
Survey Water-Supply rai>er 102, pp. 127-168, 1904. 

« Orogory, U. K., and Kllis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Oeol. Survey 
Water-Supply Taper 232, 190W. 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 466 PLATE I 




U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 466 PLATE I 



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EXPLANATION 



MAP or CONNECTICUT SHOWINajVtAIN PHYSIOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS AND AREAS TREATED IN THE PRESENT 
AND OTHER DETAILED WATER- SUFPITf PAPERS OF THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

Realizing the importance of such studies to Connecticut, the State 
joined forces with the Federal Government in order to carry on this 
work. In 1911 a cooperative agreement was entered into by the 
United States Geological Survey and the Connecticut Geological and 
Natural History Survey for the purpose of obtaining information 
concerning the quantity and quality of waters available for municipal 
and private uses. The investigation was placed in charge of Mr. 
Gregory and was to be conducted through a period of two or more 
years, the cost to be shared equally by the parties to the agreement. 

The work has consisted in gathering information concerning muni- 
cipal water supplies; measuring the dug wells used in rural districts 
and obtaining other data in regard to them ; obtaining data concern- 
ing drilled wells, driven wells, and springs; collecting and analyzing 
samples of water from wells, springs, and brooks; studying the charac- 
ter and relations of bedrock and of surficial deposits with reference 
to their influence upon the ground-water supply. 

A. J. Ellis spent the field seasons of 1911, 1912, and 1913 on this 
work under the cooperative agreement. A report has been published 
on 13 towns around Waterbury,^ and another on 10 towns around 
Hartford, 4 around Saybrook, 3 around Salisbury, and on Stamford, 
Greenwich, Windham, and Franklin.* 

Parts of the summer and fall of 1914 and 1915 were spent by the 
writer in field work on the towns discussed in this report. Six weeks 
in April and May, 1915, were spent by G. A. Waring in the towns in 
the vicinity of Meriden and Middletown, and the results of his work 
have been published.*^ A report on four towns in the Pomperaug 
Valley is in preparation. The index map (PL I) shows the areas 
covered by the several reports. 

The area with which the present report is concerned comprises 
parts of two of the physiographic provinces of Connecticut. Avon, 
Cheshire, Farmington, New Britain, Plainville, Simsbury, and 
Southington are in the central lowland. Barkhamsted, Burlington, 
Canton, Hartland, Harwinton, New Hartford, Plymouth, Prospect, 
and Wolcott are in the western highland. Bristol and Granby are 
about evenly divided between the lowland and the highland. 

RELIABILITY OF DATA. 

The principal well data are given in tables appended to the reports 
on the several towns. The depth of the dug wells and the depth of 
the water in them were determined by measurement. The informa- 
tion presented as to depth to rock, the consumption of water, and the 

3 Ellis, A. J., Ground water in the Waterbury area, Conn.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 397, 
1916. 

* Ellis, A, J., Ground water in the Hartford, Stamford, Salisbury, Willimantic, and Saybrook areas. 
Conn.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 374, 1916. 

<a Waring, G. A., Ground water in the Meriden area, Conn.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 
449, 1920. 



10 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

reliability of the supply, is in general based on statements made by 
local residents. The elevations of the wells and springs were de- 
termined from the topogra])hic maps of the United States Geological 
Survey. The estimate of the yield of drilled wells are based on tests 
made by the drillers when the wells were completed. Information con-, 
cerning the jield of a few improved s]) rings was obtained by measure- 
ments of the overflow; the yield of others was computed from measure- 
ments of the velocity and cross section of the streams issuing from 
them, for still others the figures given represent the 3'ield as estimated 
by the owners. The yield of a number of dug wells from which water 
is piped under gravity was determined by timing the filling of a vessel 
of known capacity. Intensive studies were made of the yield of two 
wells — one dug in till and the other blasted into sandstone. 

The data relating to drilled wells were obtained from the owners or 
from drillei*s. Several owners of springs and wells have made obser- 
vations of various sorts. The information obtained in this way or 
generously sup])lied by superintendents of waterworks and by 
municipal engineers is acknowledged ■with thanks. 

Free use has been made of the teclinical literature dealing with 
water supplies, and credit is given for specific facts taken from these 
sources, but the report contains also material gathered from the re- 
ports of ])revious investigations, some of which can not well be at- 
tributed to any one author. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 
GENERAL FEATURES. 

Tlie Southington-Gran])y area lies in part in the central lowland 
physiographic ])rovince of Connecticut, and in part in the western 
liigliland ])rovince. These relations are showai in the index map 
(PI. I). The western boundary of the area follows roughly the divide 
between Naugatuck River and the Quinnipiac and ^lill River valley 
in its southern part; it follows Naugatuck River for 8 miles in the 
middle; but the northern part is not related to the topography. Tlie 
eastern boundary in general follows the crest of the trap ridges of 
Talcott Mountain and Meriden West Peak. The total area including 
water botlies, obtained by adding the town areas determined from 
the maps by use of a planimeter, is a little over 500 square miles. 
The greatest length from north to south is 40 miles and the greatest 
width is 17 miles. 

There are in a sense three major topographic elements in the 
Sou thing ton-Granby area. Along the eastern margin is a ridge 200 



GEOGRAPHY. 11 

to 700 feet high formed by the upturned edges of sheets of trap rock. 
West of the trap ridges is a valley from 3 to 5 miles wide, cut in rela- 
tively soft sandstone and shale. Quinnipiac and Mill rivers drain 
the southern part of this valley, and Farmington River, Pequabuck 
River, and Salmon Brook the northern part. The valley is bounded 
on the west by a steep slope, 200 to 800 feet high, that forms the front 
of the western highland plateau, the third element. 

THE HIGHLAND. 

The highest point in the Southington-Granby area is Pine Moun- 
tain, in the northeast corner of Barkhamsted, 1,420 feet above sea 
level. Inspection of the map (PL II) will show that the hills to the 
south are lower than those to the north, and that the decrease in 
elevation is uniform. The highest point in Canton is Ratlum Moun- 
tain, 1,200 feet; in Burlington, Johnnycake Mountain, 1,160 feet, in 
Wolcott, Spindle Hill, 1,020 feet; and in Prospect, a ridge south of 
the center, 880 feet above sea level. The lowest point in the whole 
area is the point where a tributary of Mattabesset River crosses the 
south boundary of New Britain, only 55 feet above sea level. The 
total range in elevation is therefore about 1,365 feet. 

The western highland is traversed by three major valleys, of 
which one, the Naug^tiick-Still River valley ,. roughly follows part 
of the western border of the Southington-Granby area. It is cut 
several hundred feet below the plateau and constitutes one of the 
few feasible lines of communication from north to south in the 
western highland. Farmington River occupies one of these valleys 
in its upper course. 

THE LOWLAND. 

The Farmington-Quinnipiac Valley is part of the central lowland 
physiographic province of Connecticut, and most of it is included 
in the Southington-Granby area. Gregory ^ says of this valley: 

The Farmington-Quinnipiac Valley extends from New Haven northward across the 
State and is bounded on the west by the steep edge of the western highland and on the 
east by the broken wall of the central [trap] ridge. It is occupied by three rivers — the 
Farmington, Quinnipiac, and Mill [New Haven] — all of which, in common with their 
tributaries, flow almost entirely on glacial drift. From the floor of Farmington-Quinni- 
piac Valley rise a number of trap hills which break the continuity of the plain. Among 
the more prominent of these are the Barndoor Hills in Granby, 600 to 700 feet [above 
sea level]. The level, drift-filled floor of this valley lowland, together with the slight 
difference in elevation between New Haven and the Congamuck ponds, made the 
valley an attractive route for a canal, which was built in 1829 and was later succeeded 
by the Northampton Railroad. 

5 Gr^ory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 232, p. 17, 1909. 



12 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

The divide between Farmington and Quinnipiac rivers, from which 
they flow respectively northward and southward, is only 190 feet 
above sea level. 

CLIMATE. 

The outstanding features of the climate of Connecticut are the 
fairly high humidity, the uniformity of precipitation throughout 
the year, and the relatively great length of the winters. ** The winter 
occupies five or six months, and spring, summer, and autimm are 
crowded into the remainder of the year. Spring is brief, but siumner 
is longer and well defined and, with the exception of short hot waves, 



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FioiTRE 1.— Mean monthly precipitation at Canton. 



Figure 2.— Mean monthly precipitation at South- 
ington. 



is very pleasant. The fall is delightful, as it has many warm days 
with cool nights. The spring comes so quickly that the snow melts 
very rapidly and sometimes makes strong freshets. The ^^^nds are 
prevailingly westerly, but m May and June there is a good deal of 
east wind. 

The Weather Bureau maintains no stations within the Soutliington- 
Granby area, but the data given in the report cited for Cream Hill, 
in Cornwall, are pro!) ably representative of the conditions in the 
northwestern ])art of the area, and the data for Hartford of those in 
the southeastern part. 



« Summaries of climatological data of the United States, by sections: U. B. Weather Bureau Bull. W, 
section lO.j, 1912. 



GEOGRAPHY. 
Climatic data for Cream Hill and Hartford, Conn. 



13 



Temperature ("F.): 

Mean annual 

Maximum 

Minimum 

Precipitation (inches) 

Mean annual 

Annual snowfall . . 
Frosts: 

Average date: 
First killing. . 
Last killing.. 

Earliest recorded. 

Latest recorded . . 



Cream 
Hill. 



46.0 
96 
-15 

48.06 

75.8 



Sept. 26 
May 1 
Sept. 20 
May 12 



Hart- 
ford. 



48.5 
98 
-20 

44.30 
47.2 



Oct. 10 
Apr. 28 
Sept. 19 
May 12 



There is in general abundant precipitation in Connecticut, though 
sometimes more or less protracted summer droughts may occur. 



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Figure 3.— Mean monthly precipitation at West 
Simsbuxy. 



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Figure 4.— Mean monthly precipitation at Shuttle 
Meadow, New Britain. 



The following tables are summaries of longer tables and show the 
average, maximum, and minimum monthly precipitation at five 
points in the Southington-Granby area. The tables for Canton, 
Southington, and West Simsbury represent longer periods than the 
other tables and are therefore probably more accurate. Figures 1, 
2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 show graphically the precipitation and its distribu- 
tion through the seasons. 



14 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
Summary of precipitation, in inches, at Canton, Conn., 1862-19 15. ^^ 





Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Year. 


Maximum 


7.10 

.81 

3.85 


9.11 

.49 

3.84 


9.57 

.19 

4.12 


12.30 

.68 

3.58 


18.00 

.51 

4.15 


12.36 

.20 

4.09 


16.96 
1.36 
4.64 


16.45 

.73 

4.82 


11.25 

.29 

4.06 


14.70 
.62 


9.28 
.70 


9.07 

.64 

3.90 


75.16 


Minimum 


38.90 


Average 


4. 68 4. 18 


49.93 











n Data collected by G. J. Case. Figures for 1S62-1913 from Sixtieth Annual Report of the Board of Water 
Commissioners of Hartford. Figures for 1914 and 1915 furnished by Mr. Case. 



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Figure 5.— Mean annual precipitation at Canton, Figttre 6.— Mean monthly precipitation at Green- 
Southington, West Simsbury, Shuttle Meadow, wood Pond, New Hartford and Barkhamsted. 

and Greenwood Pond. 

Summary of precipitation, in inches, at Southington, Conn., 1870-1913. "■ 





Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Year. 


Mj^TOmnTn 


10.81 
1.47 
3.83 


7.70 

.90 

3.90 


8.45 

.87 

4.34 


9.65 

.85 

3.20 


7.00 

.03 

3.40 


12.10 

.45 

3.06 


19.90 
1.15 
4.23 


9.55 

.40 

4.54 


11.90 

.38 

3.50 


ia30 

.55 

3.66 


7.68 

.65 

3.57 


9.80 
1.05 
3.82 


63.54 


Minimum 


30.02 


Average 


45.05 







o Goodnough, X. H., Rainfall in New England: New England Waterworks Assoc. Jour., Sept., 1915. 
Summmy of precipitation, in inches, at West Simsbury, Conn., 1890-1912. f^ 





Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Year. 


Ma"X"imiiTn 


6.70 
1.41 
3.66 


9.06 

.52 

3 83 


6.76 

.64 

4.W 


11.10 

.66 

3.37 


7.15 

.73 

3.65 


9.79 

.51 

3.24 


16.21 
1.17 
4.37 


7.38 

.75 

4.24 


9.83 
1.17 
4.03 


6.49 

.90 

3.90 


&48 

.61 

3.35 


8.06 
1.28 
3.89 


59.53 


Minimum 


35.71 


Average .. 


45.57 



a Goodnough, X. H., op. cit. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



15 



Summary of precipitation, in inches, at Shuttle Meadow, New Britain, Conn., 1899-1902, 

1904-1906, and 1908-1913 a 





Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Year. 


Maximum 


4.89 

.46 

2.80 


8.03 

.00 

2.72 


7.06 

.58 

4.79 


9.36 
1.61 
4.53 


7.72 

.02 

3.92 


6.05 

.22 

2.94 


7.24 
1.45 
3.52 


6.41 

.50 

3.85 


7.48 

.59 

3.70 


9.17 

.20 
3.97 


5.63 


10.03 




Minimum 


. 26 1. 35 
2. 83 3. 85 




Average 


43.42 











a Compiled from annual reports of the Board of Water Commissioners of New Britain. 
Summary of precipitation, in inches, at Greenwood Pond, New Hartford, Conn. ,19 10-19 15 .(^ 



Jan. 



Number of years in 

record 

Ma:dmum 

Minimum 

Average 



3 
2. 51 
1.12 
2.06 



Feb. 



4 
4.44 
1.68 
2.87 



Mar. 



4 
6.16 
1.31 
3.34 



Apr. 



5 
4.67 
2.27 
3.42 



May. 



5 

4.73 
1.76 
2.99 



June, 



5 

3.26 

.53 

2.40 



July. 



5 
7.01 
2.30 
4.01 



Aug. 



6 
8.20 
2.42 
4.72 



Sept. 



6 

5.98 

.08 

3.56 



Oct. 



6 
8.94 

.84 
4.83 



Nov. 



5 
4.34 
1.04 
3.29 



Dec. 



4 
4.12 
2.42 
2.96 



Year. 



40.45 



o Discontinuous record furnished by Mr. Aaron Watson. 
SURFACE WATERS. 

The Southington-Granby area comprises parts of ^ve drainage 
basins. About half of Cheshire and a little of Prospect are drained 
by Mill River, which enters Long Island Sound at New Haven. 
Parts of Prospect, Wolcott, Plymouth, Harwinton, and New Hartford 
are drained by small streams tributary to Naugatuck River. New 
Britain is in large part drained to the Connecticut. A little of 
western New Britain is drained by Quinnipiac River, which flows 
through a gap (Cooks Gap) in the long lava ridge and then turns 
south to enter Long Island Sound at New Haven. Many small 
streams in Bristol, Wolcott, and Cheshire and all of those in South- 
ington are tributary to the Quinnipiac. Farmington River flows 
through this area and joins the Connecticut above Hartford, and 
the streams draining the rest of the area are tributary to it. The 
divide between the Farmington and Naugatuck basins is very sinuous, 
but for most of its length it is much nearer to Naugatuck River than 
to Farmington River. 

As in all other glaciated regions lakes and ponds are abundant in 
the Southington-Granby area. Some of the swamps in the area are 
former water bodies that have been filled with sediment. 

When water faUs as rain or snow a part evaporates, another part 
enters the ground, and a third part flows off directly into streams. 
Some of the ground water is lost by evaporation and by transpiration 
from trees and other plants. The ratio of run-off to rainfall is highly 
variable, as it depends on many factors, such as the rate of precipita- 
tion, its distribution throughout the year, the character and thickness 
of the soil, the steepness of slopes, the abimdance of vegetable cov- 
ering, the amount of frost in the soil, and the character and structure 
of the rocks. 



16 GKOUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRAN^BY AREA, CONN. 

The following tables give some idea of the run-off in two basins in 
Connecticut : 

Monthly run-off of Pomperaug River at Bennetts Bridge and precipitation in Pomperaug 

' drainage hasin.f^ 

[Area of basin 89.3 square miles.] 



Month. 



1913. 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

1914. 

January 

February 

March '. 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

1915. 

January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October, 1913, to September, 1914 



Precipi- 
tation 
(inches). 



3.19 
3.53 
9.66 
3.05 
2.72 



2.15 
2.14 
5.63 
4.35 
3.19 
2.83 
5.91 
3.66 
.36 
3.31 
3.37 
2.82 



6.21 
5.70 
.15 
1.59 
3.37 
2.01 
6.31 
8.09 
2.94 

45.65 



Run-off. 



Depth in 

inches on 

drainage 

basin. 



0.25 
.35 
2.57 
2.73 
2.24 



1.33 

.58 
4.32 



,50 



1.61 

1.60 

1.21 

.45 

.78 

1.79 

.92 



38.95 



Per cent 
of precip- 
itation. 



6.8 

9.9 

26.6 

89.5 

81.7 



61.8 
27.1 

76.6 
67.5 
73.6 
22.3 
11.8 
12.3 
55.6 



14.8 



1,070 
100.6 
35.9 
22.4 
12.4 
22.1 
31.3 

85.4 



a Data obtained from unpublished report by A. J. Ellis, XT. S. Geol. Survey. 

Precipitation and run-off in Housatonic River basin above Gaylordsville, Conn., 1901-1903, 

1906-1909 a 



[Area of basin 1,020 square miles.] 





Precipi- 
tation 
(inches). 


Run-ofl. 


Year. 


Depth in 

inches on 

drainage 

basin. 


Per cent 
of precip- 
itation. 


1901 


56.94 
61.43 
56.85 
46.31 
55.80 
40.26 
44.75 


29.65 
38.62 
39.65 
22.17 
29.47 
19.67 
19.85 


52.1 


1902 


62.9 


1903 


69.8 


1906 


47.9 


1907 


52.9 


1908 


48.8 


1909 


44.4 







o Compiled from Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., Undergroimd- water resources of Connecticut: U, S. 
Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 232, p. 29, 1909, and from Surface-water supply of the United States, 
1907-8 and 1909: U. S. GTeol. Survey Water-Supply Papers 241 and 261. 



GEOGKAPHY. 



17 



The Tenth Census report on water power gives figures taken from 
various sources concerning the ratio of run-off to precipitation in a 
number of drainage basins. The data for four of these basins in the 
northeastern United States are siunmarized in the following table: 

Precipitation and run-off in northeastern United States. 



River basin. 


Area of 

basin 

(square 

miles). 


Length 
of record 
(years). 


Annual 
precipi- 
tation 
(inches). 


Run-off (per cent of precipita- 
tion). 


Mean. 


Maxi- 
mum. 


Mini- 
mum. 


Connecticut above Hartford 


10,234 
78 

20.37 
339 


7 
5 

4+ 
13 


42.7 
46.1 
50 
49.79 


62.8 
47.6 
62.9 
56.5 


72.2 
57.9 


51.8 


Sudbury 


32.7 


West Branch of Croton 




Croton 













The difference between the run-off of the basin of West Branch of 
Croton River and that of the whole Croton drainage basin is due to 
the fact that the former is a steep, rocky, thin-soiled, and relatively 
untilled region, whereas the latter is flatter and more cultivated and 
therefore absorbs more of the rain. 

WOODLANDS. 

About 35 per cent of the area of the lowland towns of the South- 
ington-Granby area is wooded, but in the highland about 65 per cent 
is wooded. The greater facility of transportation in the lowland, 
together with the nearness of markets and the more readily tillable 
nature of the soils, has stimulated the clearing away of the forests. 
At present the forests of the lowland are for the most part represented 
by small woodlots. On the plains there are some extensive stands of 
white and yellow pine with small admixtures of deciduous trees, and 
the trap ridges are in large part covered with deciduous forests. In 
the highland there are relatively few evergreen trees but numerous 
chestnuts, oaks, hickories, elms, maples, beeches, birches, and other 
hardwoods. A great amount of cordwood and native lumber is pro- 
duced. The manner of cutting wood has heretofore been very waste- 
ful, and few attempts at reforestation have been made. Cut-over 
lands have been allowed to grow up with sprout and staddle, and the 
woodlands have in consequence deteriorated steadily. In the last 
decade, however, there has been some systematic planting of trees, 
and the cutting has been a little less ruthless. The wood crop would 
be a very profitable one were the industry prosecuted in a proper 
manner, as the soil is in general very good, and if given a chance will 
mature most kinds of trees sufficiently for the market in 20 to 30 
years. 

187118°— 21— wsp 466 2 



18 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



0-25 



25-50 



POPULATION AND INDUSTRIES. 

The Southington-Granby area comprises 1 8 towns which belong in 
three counties. The towns are Avon, Bristol, Burlington, Canton, 

INHABITANTS PER SQUARE Famiington, Granbv, Hart- 

MILE, 1910 ° ' . . -r-»i • 

land, New Britain, Flain- 
ville, Simsbury, and South- 
ington, in Hartford County; 
Barkhamsted, Harwinton, 
New Hartford, and Plym- 
outh, in Litchfield Coxmty; 
and Cheshire, Prospect, and 
Wolcott, in New Haven 
County. 

The distribution of popu- 
lation and the occupation 
of the people in this area 
depend in large part on the 
physiographic features of 
the area. The bulk of the 




50-100 



Pv^?^ 



100-500 



^ 



500-1,000 



^ 



^ 



Over 1,000 




INHABITANTS PER SQUARE 
MILE, 1850 



25-50 




100-500 



FiGUBE 7. — Map showing density of popu- 
lation in the Southington-Granby area 
in 1910. 

population, as indicated on 
the population-density map 
(^g. 7), is concentrated in 
the six adjacent lowland 
towns — New Britain, Bris- 
tol, Southington, Plym- 
outh, Farmington, and 
Plainville. The total popu- 
lation of these towns was 
75,315 in 1910, or 81 per 
cent of the population of 
the whole area. The area 
is 139 square miles, or 28 
per cent of the total area. 
Thus 81 per cent of the 
people dwell in only 28 per cent of the area. The density of the 
population in these towns is about 540 inhabitants to the square 



Figure 8.- 



-Map showing density of population in the South- 
ington-Granby area in 1850. 



^ 



GEOGRAPHY. 



19 



mile. The population is next greatest in those highland towns 
which are cut by valleys that provide not only power sites but also 
avenues of communication. The six typical highland towns of the 
area — Barkhamsted, Hartland, Harwinton, Burlington, Prospect, and 
Wolcott — are sparsely populated. Although they comprise 171 
square miles, or 32 per cent of the total area, they have only 5,270 
inhabitants, or 6 per cent of the total population. The population 
density is 31 to the square mile. 

The heavier shading on the map brings out the concentration of 
the population along the lowland and particularly in the region of the 
east-west hne of the Highland division of the New York, New Haven 
& Hartford Railroad. A comparison of this map with the map show- 
ing the population density in 1850 (fig. 8) wiU show the extent and 
character of the movements of population in the 60 years between 
1850 and 1910. In 1850 there were no towns with less than 25 in- 
habitants to the square mile; in 1910 there were two. In 1850 there 
were only two towns with over 100 to the square mile; in 1910 there 
were six. In 1850 only one town had as many as 223 inhabitants to 
the square mile; in 1910 there were four. 

The following table gives statistics concerning the eighteen towns 
considered in this report: 

Statistics of towns in Southington-Granhy area. 



Town. 



Area 
(square 
miles) .o 



Population, b 



1900 



1910 



Gain 

(per 

cent). 



Inhabit- 
ants per 
square 
mile, 
1910. 



Avon 

Barkhamsted. 

Bristol 

Burlington... 

Canton 

Cheshire 

Farmington.. 

Granby 

Hartland 

Harwinton... 
New Britain.. 
New Hartford 

Plain ville 

Plymouth 

Prospect 

Simsbury 

Southington.. 
Wolcott 



22.7 
38.9 
26.8 
31.1 
29.5 
31.9 
28.7 
41.3 
33.7 
30.8 
13.6 
37.4 
9.6 
22.3 
15.0 
30.6 
38.2 
21.1 



1,302 

864 
9,643 
1,218 
2,768 
1,989 
'3,331 
1,299 

592 
1,213 
28,202 
3,424 
2,189 
2,828 

562 
2,094 
5,890 

581 



1,333 

865 
13,502 
1,319 
2,732 
1,988 
3,478 
1,383 

544 
1,440 
43,916 
2,144 
2,882 
5,021 

539 
2,537 
6,516 

563 



3 



40 

8 

2 



3 

6 

c8 

19 

56 

c37 

3.2 

77 

c4 

21 

11 

c3 



59 
22 

504 
42 
93 
62 

121 

33 

16 

47 

3,230 

■ 57 

300 

223 
36 
83 

170 
27 



503.2 



69,899 



92,702 



32.6 



184 



a Areas measured with planimeter on topographic sheets. 

6 Population figures from Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915. 

c Loss. * 



The broad, roUing plains of the Farmington and Quinnipiac valleys 
early attracted settlers by reason of their easily tillable and fairly 
fertile soils. The vaUey gave a ready line of commxmication with 
the sea. At first there were only rough trails and bridle paths, but 
soon good roads were built over which much freight was hauled. In 



20 GKOUJSTD WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

the early part of the nineteenth century a canal was built through the 
valley from New Haven to Northampton. The canal was operated 
from 1827 to 1848/ when it was replaced by a railroad. During the 
period of canal transportation the villages in the steep valleys of the 
highland, especially those near the debouchures of streams on the 
lowland, where there were sites suitable for the development of water 
power, became of some importance. The towns which were more re- 
mote from the canal and in which power sites were few fell behind in 
many respects and even decreased in population. The construction of 
railroads accentuated the differences that were first developed by the 
canal. The Northampton Railroad, which follows the old canal, 
was put into operation in 1848. In 1849 the Highland division 
through New Britain, Plainville, Bristol, and Plymouth was built, 
and in 1850 the New Hartford branch of the Northampton road was 
opened. Then there was a lull in railroad building till 1871, when the 
Central New England Railway went through Simsbury, Canton, and 
New Hartford. The Meriden-Waterbury Railroad, which runs 
through Cheshire, was built a few years later. 

There are now many factories in the Southington-Granby area and 
they afford subsistence to most of the population. Agriculture is a 
subordinate occupation. A few special crops of considerable value 
are raised — tobacco in Simsbury, Granby, and Avon; orchard fruits 
in Cheshire, Southington, and Farmington ; and dairy products, garden 
truck, cordwood, and native lumber in most of the towns. 

GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 

Very little is known of the early geologic history of Connecticut, for 
the old j:'ocks have suffered so many changes that the evidence given 
by them is almost impossible to interpret. It is certain that in pre- 
Cambrian and early Paleozoic time sediments were deposited. The 
first deposits were sand, mud, and clay, which became consolidated 
to form sandstone and shale, but later, in Ordovician time, some 
limestone was deposited. No fossils have been found in these rocks, 
but their age has been roughly determined by studying the relative 
positions of the formations and by tracing them into regions where 
more evidence is to be had. 

From the end of the Ordovician period to the Triassic period no 
sediments were formed, or if any were formed they have since been 
completely removed. During this interval there were several great 
mountain-building disturbances, characterized by compression of the 
earth's crust in an east-west direction, and the intrusion of vast quan- 
tities of igneous rock. To the compression is due the change of the 
old shales and sandstones to the schists and gneisses of the highland. 

' Brandegee, A. L., and Smith, E. A., Farmington, Conn., pp. 132 et seq. 



GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 21 

The igneous rocks, in large part, were also crushed and converted to 
gneisses. 

During Triassic time the mountains were deeply eroded, and much 
of th^ debris was deposited in a troughlike valley in central Connecti- 
cut. The sediments are for the most part red shales, sandstones, 
and conglomerates, but there are some dark bituminous shales and 
green and gray limy shales. In some places in the red rocks foot- 
prints of reptiles, both large and small, and a few of their bones have 
been found. The footprints and bones indicate that the rocks are of 
Triassic age, as do also the remains of fishes found in places in the 
bituminous shales. 

The deposition of the Triassic sediments was interrupted three 
times by the gentle eruption of basaltic lava, which spread out across 
the wide valley floor and which now forms the trap ridges between 
the .Farmington and Connecticut valleys. Into the already buried 
sediments were also intruded other masses of basaltic lava that 
formed the sills, dikes, and laccoliths characteristic of the western 
edge of the central lowland. 

Subsequently, presumably in the Jurassic period, the flat-l^dng 
sedimentary rocks and their intercalated trap sheets were broken into 
blocks by a series of faults that cut diagonally across the lowland in 
a northeasterly direction. Each block was rotated so that its south- 
east margin was depressed and its northwest margin elevated. 

There is no sedimentary record of the interval from the Triassic 
period to the glacial epoch, but the erosion that took place in that 
interval has left its mark. Duiing Cretaceous time the great block 
mountains formed by the Jurassic faulting were almost completely 
worn away. It is believed by Davis ^ and others that during part of 
the Cretaceous period the sea advanced over Connecticut as far as 
Hartford, and that the submerged area was covered with marine 
deposits. No such beds have survived to the present day, and the 
only evidence of them is indirect. Most of the streams in the region 
flow about due south, but parts of the more powerful ones — for ex- 
ample, the lower Connecticut — ^have southeasterly courses. It is 
possible that when the Cretaceous deposits were raised they were 
tilted toward the southeast, and the courses of the streams across 
these beds were similarly deflected. The more vigorous streams 
were perhaps able to impose their channels on the discordant rock 
surface below the Cretaceous beds, whereas the smaller streams were 
turned back to their old channels by elevations of the rock surface. 

It was noted by Percival ® that the highlands may be regarded ^ ' as 
extensive plateaus'' which '^ present when viewed from an elevated 

8Davis, W. M., The Triassic formation of Connecticut: U, S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Kept., pt. 
2, p. 165, 1898. 
9 Percival, J. G., Report on the geology of Connecticut, p. 477, 1842. 



22 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

point of their surface the appearance of a general level, with a rolling 
or undulating outline, over which the view often extends to a very 
great distance, interrupted only by isolated summits of ridges, usu- 
ally of small extent." Rice ^^ h^s described the phenomenon &s fol- 
lows: ^^If we should imagine a sheet of pasteboard resting upon the 
highest elevations of Litchfield County and sloping southeastward in 
an inclined plane, that imaginary sheet of pasteboard would rest on 
nearly all the summits of both the eastern and western highlands." 
The rocks of this plateau are the roots of the mountains that stood 
there in late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic time. They have been 
worn away and a more or less perfect plain made in their stead. 

Barrell ^^ has pointed out, however, that the hilltops approximate 
not an inclined plane but a stairlike succession of nearly horizontal 
planes, each a few hundred feet lower than the next one to the north. 

Plate IV, ^, is a reproduction of a photograph taken from the 
northeastern part of Harwinton looking toward the northwest. The 
rolling foreground and middle ground are part of the Litchfield ter- 
race of Barrell, about 1,100 feet above sea level, and at the left in the 
far distance is the front of what he calls the Goshen terrace, the next 
higher, about 1,350 feet above sea level. The explanation offered for 
these features is as follows : The emergence of the land after the late 
Tertiary submergence was marked by alternate rapid uplifts and 
long periods of rest in which the land stood at one elevation and was 
subjected to marine erosion. There are in the Southington-Granby 
area three terraces, each facing the sea, at elevations of 880 to 920 
feet, 1,100 to 1,140 feet, and 1,340 to 1,380 feet above sea level. The 
lowest has been named the Prospect terrace by Barrell because it is 
well developed in the town of Prospect. The middle and upper ter- 
races are named in the same way for the towns of Litchfield and 
Goshen. In the northern part of Hartland there is a plateau of 3 or 
4 square miles that is part of the Goshen terrace. In southern Hart- 
land, Barkhamsted, Granby, and New Hartford there are similar 
fragments of the Litchfield terrace. The best preserved of the ter- 
races is the Prospect terrace, extensive remnants of which exist in 
Burlington, Harwinton, Plymouth, Bristol, Wolcott, and Prospect. 
Other terraces, both higher and lower, are found elsewhere in the 
State. 

Since the formation of the terraces ajid their exposure to erosion by 
elevation they have been deeply trenched by streams. Only a small 
part of their original surface is preserved. Most of the detail of the 

10 Rice, W. N., and Gregory, H. E,, Manual of the geology of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. and Nat. 
Hist. Survey Bull. 6, p. 20, 1906. 

" Barrell, Joseph, Piedmont terraces of the northern Appalachians and their origin: Geol. See. America 
Bull., vol. 24, pp. 688-691, 1913. 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 406 PLATE IV 




A. VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM NORTHEASTERN PART OF HARWINTON. 
Showing dissected plateau and, in the distance, a scarp of a higher plateau. 




B. STRATIFIED DRIFT IN PEQUABUCK VALLEY, l}^ MILES EAST OF TERRYVILLE 

STATION. 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 23 

topography is due to this erosion, but much of it is due to ice action. 
During the glacial epoch the continental ice sheet that overrode 
most of the northern United States covered New England completely. 
It was of great thickness, and as it moved slowly southward it remod- 
eled the topography by scraping away the surface accumulation of 
decayed rock, by breaking off and grinding down projecting ledges of 
rock, and by redepositing the debris. The major features of the to- 
pography were left unchanged, but the details were greatly altered. 
The soil mantle of decayed rock was replaced by unconsolidated man- 
tle rock of two types — till and stratified drift. The till is of moderate 
thickness, and its surface is about the same as the general surface of 
the bedrock below. The stratified drift has several forms of topo- 
graphic expression — ^flat outwash plains, long esker ridges, and hum- 
mocky kame areas. 

DuriQg the Recent epoch — that is to say, since the fijial recession 
of the ice sheet — there has been no great geologic change. Small 
amounts of alluvium have been deposited in stream valleys, some 
swamps have been filled and some lakes changed to swamps by the 
deposition of sediment, and there has been slight erosion over the 
whole area, but the changes are in general imperceptible. 

WATER-BEARINO FORMATIONS. 

The water-bearing formations of Connecticut may be divided into 
two classes — bedrock and glacial drift. The bedrocks are the under- 
lying consolidated, firm rocks, such as schist, granite, trap, and sand- 
stone, and they are exposed at the surface only in small, scattered 
outcrops. The glacial drift comprises the unconsolidated, loose ma- 
terials, such as sand, clay, and till, that form the surface of most of 
the State and overlie the bedrocks. These materials are by far the 
more important source of ground-water supply and are of two chief 
varieties — till, also known as ^'hardpan" or "boulder clay," and 
stratified drift, also known as "modified drift" or "glacial outwash." 

On the geologic map (PL II) are shown the areas occupied by till 
and stratified drift, as well as the outcrops of bedrock. The Triassic 
sandstone, the trap, and the crystalline rocks are differentiated, but 
no attempt was made to separate the eight well-recognized varieties 
of the crystalline rocks found in the Southington-Granby area. The 
outcrops of bedrock are indicated as small patches, which have 
roughly the shape of the actual outcrops but most of which are dis- 
proportionately large because of the small scale of the map. Inas- 
much as in the field work it was necessary to follow the roads many 
outcrops in the spaces between the roads may have been unmapped. 



24 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

GLACIAL DRIFT. 
TILL. 

Till, which is an ice-laid deposit, forms a mantle over the bedrock of 
much of Connecticut. Its thickness is in general from 10 to 40 feet 
but in places reaches 60 or 80 feet. The average thickness of the till 
as penetrated in 64 drilled wells in the Southington-Granby area is 
23.7 feet. 

The till is composed of a- matrix of the pulverized and granulated 
fragments of the rocks over which the ice sheet passed, and of larger 
pieces of the same rocks embedded in the matrix. The principal 
minerals are quartz, clay, feldspar, and mica, but small amounts of 
their decomposition products and of other minerals are also found. 
There has been little chemical decompositioji and disintegration of 
the till, and it has in general a blue-gray color. Near the surface, 
however, where the iron-bearing constituejits of the matrix have 
been weathered, the color is yellow or brown. Where the material is 
in large part derived from the red Triassic rocks the till has a red or 
red-brown color. ' 

* The boulders of the till are characterized by their peculiar suban- 
gular shapes with polished and striated facets. Many of the boulders 
have facets that are in part concave where spalls have been flaked off 
as the boulders were pressed together in the ice. The boulders are 
very abundant and are scattered over the fields and in cut banks. In 
any bank or field there are likely to be a number of different varieties 
of rocks. There are many boulders of clear or brown-stained quartz- 
ite to which the name "hardheads" is often given. Many of these 
have been transported from localities in Massachusetts, where this 
variety of rock imderlies considerable areas. They show something 
of the direction of movement of the ice, as do also the trap-rock 
boulders. 

Some of the till is very tough, as is indicated by the popular term 
"hardpan" often applied to it. The toughness is in part due to its 
having been thoroughly compacted by the great weight of the ice 
sheet, and in part to the interlocking of the sharp and angular grains. 
It seems probable, however, that the more soluble constituents of 
the matrix have to some extent been dissolved by the ground water 
circulating through it and have been redeposited in such a way as to 
cement the particles together. 

The relative amounts of the different sizes of material are shown in 
the following table.^^ The material treated by mechanical analysis 
is the fine earth that remained after the coarse gravel and boulders 
had been removed. 

'2 Dorsey, C. W., and Bonsteel, J. A., Soil survey in the Connecticut Valley: U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Soils 
Field Operations, 1899, p. 131. 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 
Mechanical analyses of stony loams from Connecticut Valley. 



25 



Diameter 
(millimeters). 



1 


2 


3 


2 


12.45 


5.26 


3.35 


11.86 


8.66 


8.60 


13.98 


18.83 


31.25 


14.78 


21.00 


34.22 


17.51 


18.83 


4.35 


8.20 


8.70 


6.20 


8. 67 


5.30 


6.57 


10.23 


10.87 


1.36 


1.04 


1.01 


2.03 


1.69 


1.77 



Gravel 

Ck)arsc sand 

Medium sand... 

Fine sand 

Very fine sand.. 

Silt 

Fine silt 

Clay 

Loss at 110° C... 
Lossonimition. 



2tol 

1 to 0.5 

0.5 to 0.25 

0.25 to 0.1 

0.1 to 0.05 

0.05 to 0.01.... 
0.01 to 0.005... 
0.005 to 0.0001. 



8.05 

3.85 

8.22 

11.53 

29.82 

21.26 

6.45 

12.20 

1.54 

2.35 



1. Triassic stony loam half a mile south of Bloomficld, Conn. 

2. Triassic stony loam, Enfield, Conn. 

3. Triassic stony loam 1?: miles south of Hazardville, Conn. 

4. Holyoke stoiiy loam 2 miles south of Ashleyville, Mass. 

The first three analyses represent till derived from Triassic sand- 
stones and shales; the fourth a till derived " from crystalline rocks. 
The boulders and pebbles mixed Avith the fine earth (the matrix) 
constitute from 5 to 50 per cent or even more of the total volume. 

The water-bearing capacity of the till is difficult to estimate for 
any large area because of its extreme variability. A small sample 
may be tested by drying it well, then soaking it in water until it is 
saturated, and finally allowing the excess to drain away. A com- 
parison of the weight after drying wdth the final weight will show 
how much water has been absorbed. Gregory ^^ made such an 
experiment on a typical mass of till collected near New Haven and 
determined that 1 cubic foot could absorb 3.46 quarts. In other 
words, the till is able to absorb water to the extent of 11.55 per cent 
of its total volume. Other samples would undoubtedly show higher 
and lower results, but this is probably not far from the average. 

The pores of the till are relatively small, so that water does not 
soak into it very rapidly. On. the other hand, the pores are very 
numerous and are able in the aggregate to hold a good deal of water, 
as is shown above. The fineness of the pores is a disadvantage in 
that it makes absorption slow, but it is at the same time an advan- 
tage in that it retards the loss of water by seepage. The till of 
Connecticut is more porous than that of many other glaciated 
regions, apparently because the hard, resistant rocks from which it 
was derived yielded grains of quartz and other siliceous minerals, 
rather than fine rock flour. This statement probably applies better 
to the till derived from the crystalline rock and the Triassic sand- 
stones and conglomerates than to the till derived from the shales 
and shaly sandstones. 

At many places there are lenses of water-washed and stratified 
material within the body of the unsorted and unstratified till. These 



13 Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-supply Paper 232, p. 139, 1909. 



26 GROUND WATER IK SOtrTHlNGTOlsT-GRANBY AREA, CONIS". 

were presumably deposited by subglacial streams that existed but 
a short time before they were diverted or cut off by the advance of 
the ice sheet. These lenses are of considerable value where they 
happen to be cut by a well, as they in effect increase the area of till 
that drains into the well and so increase its supply. Well diggers 
often report that at a certain depth they ''struck a spring. '^ Such 
reports probably refer to cutting into lenses of this type. 

The till has no striking topographic expression. The plastering 
action of the ice sheet by which it was deposited tended to give it 
a generally smooth surface. In a very few places there are ridges 
or terrace-shaped bodies of till — lateral moraines, built at the flanks 
of tongues of ice that protruded beyond the front of the m^ain ice 
body. In some places the till was heaped up beneath the ice, much 
as sand bars are built on river bottoms, and now forms gently 
rounded hills called drumlins. 

STRATIFIED DRIFT. 

In contrast with the till, which was formed by direct ice action, 
s the stratified drift, which is a water-laid deposit. Stratified drift 
may have originated either v/ithin, on, under, or in front of the ice 
sheet. In Connecticut only subglacial and extraglacial stratified 
drift are found, and except for their topographic expression they are 
very similar. 

Stratified drift is composed of the washed and weU-sorted, reworked 
constituents of the till, together with some debris made by the 
weathering and erosion of bedrock. The water that did the work 
was, for the most part, the water produced by the melting of the 
glacier, but since glacial times the streams of the region have con- 
tinued the process. The distinction between glacial stratified drift 
and more recent alluvium is hard to .draw, and for the purposes of a 
ground-water study it is not essential. Toward the end of the gla- 
cial epoch the climate became very mild, and vast amounts of ice 
were melted. The relatively soft till was easy for the glacial streams 
to erode, and it supplied a great abundance of material. Presuma- 
bly some of the streams flowed in sinuous subglacial channels in 
which they made deposits that have now become long, winding ridges 
called eskers. The water in some of the channels beneath the ice 
seems to have been under hydraulic head, as some eskers cross ridges 
and gullies regardless of the grades. 

Where the debris-laden waters came to the edge of the ice sheet 
kames were made. Some of the material was carried beyond the 
front, of the ice sheet and was laid down as an alluvial deposit in the 
valley. Not all the materials composing the wide outwash plains 
have been deposited by running water. There are also beds of finer 
material — clay and silt, rather than sand — that were laid down in 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 



27 



lakes and ponds which stood in shallow depressions in front of the 
ice. 

The stratified drift consists of interlocking lenslike beds laid one 
against another in a very intricate and 'irregular way. Some of the 
lenses consist of fine sand, others of coarse sand, others of gravel, and 
still others of cobbles. Sand lenses are the most abundant. The 
material of each lens is rather uniform in size, but there may be a 
great difference between adjacent lenses. In general the finer mate- 
rials form more extensive beds than the coarser. Some of the beds 
of clay and fine silt, though only an inch or two thick, have a 
horizontal extent of several hundred feet. Lenses of gravel may be 
2 or 3 feet thick and not extend over 10 feet horizontally. 

The sand lenses are composed almost entirely of quartz grains. 
In the gravel lenses are pebbles of many kinds of rocks. The clay 
beds contain true clay, thin flakes of mica, and minute particles of 
quartz and feldspar. In all the deposits there is iron which gives 
them brown colors. 

The follo\\dng table shows the character of the material i^"^ 

Mechanical analyses of stratified di if t from Connecticut Valley. 





Diameter 
(millimeters). 


1 


2 


3 


1 


5 


Gravel 


2to 1 


4.98 

n.3i 

33.41 

33. 75 

10.82 

2.09 

L03 

L65 


2.20 

7.51 

33.50 

32.05 

13.50 

4.47 

L75 

2.78 


0.50 
L51 
7.96 
23.27 
41.82 
9.15 
6.32 
4.40 


0.00 

Trace. 

.21 

L50 

19.55 

33.67 

28.54 

9.50 


0.00 


Coarse sand 


ltoO.5 

0.5 to 0.25 

0.25 to 0.1 

0.1 to 0.05 

0.05 to 0.01 

0.01 to 0.005 

0.005 to 0.0001... 


.29 


MftrlinTn snnri , 


.40 


Fine sand 


.73 


Very fine sand 


5 


Silt 


32.57 


Fine silt 


29. 10 


Clay 


25.65 






Loss at 110° C 


.50 
.80 


.80 
L30 


L92 
3.68 


2.60 
4.75 


2.17 


Loss on ignition 




3.53 









1. Coarse, sharp sand, 2 miles southeast of Bloomfield. 

2. Sandy loam, southwest of Windsor. 

3. Fine sandy loam, half a mile northeast of South Windsor. 

4. Recent flood-plain deposits, three-quarters of a mile southeast of Hartford. 

5. Brick clay from glacial lake beds, Sxrffield. 

The most striking difference shown by a comparison of this table 
with the table of mechanical analyses of till samples on page 25 is 
that in each sample of stratified drift two or three sizes make up 
almost aU the material, whereas in the tiU there is a wider diversity 
of sizes, even exclusive of the boulders, which are neglected in the 
analyses. 

The topographic form assumed by most of the stratified drift is 
that of a sand plain, which may be modified by terraces, by vaUeys 
cut into it, or by kettle holes. In the highlands small bodies of strati- 
fied drift form eskers — long winding ridges, 10 to 40 feet high — in some 

" Dorsey, C. W., and Bonsteel, J. A., Soil survey in the Connecticut Valley: U. S. Dept. Agric. Div. 
Soils Field Operations, 1899, pp. 132, 134-136, 138. 



28 GROUND WATER IN SOXJTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

places with narrow crests and in others with flat tops up to 100 feet 
wide, and generally with steep flanks. In the lowlands there are 
kame areas of stratified drift which consist of irregularly scattered 
hillocks and hummocky short ridges. 

CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF TILL AND STRATIFIED DRIFT. 

No hard and fast rules can be laid down for determining whether 
the mantle rock at any point is tiU or stratified drift, and the decision 
is reached only after weighing several factors. The presence of clear 
bedding is indubitable evidence that the deposit is stratified drift, 
but it can be seen only in fresh excavations. TiU areas in general 
contain numerous stone wafls, which are lacking in most stratified- 
drift areas. In case of doubt the shape of the boulders in the walls 
should be studied. TiU areas have less striking topographic forms 
than stratified-drift areas, which show broad plains with terraces 
and kettle holes, or kames and eskers. Because of their peculiar 
ground-water conditions the stratified-drift areas are likely to have 
many pines, both white and yellow, cedars, and scrub oaks, with an 
undergrowth of sweet fern and '^ poverty" grass. There are no out- 
standing floral characteristics in the tiU areas. 

OCCURRENCE AND CIRCULATION OF GROUND WATER. 

Some of the water that falls as rain or melts from snow soaks into 
the ground. A surface layer of sand or gravel or a thick mat of leaf 
mold or of needles, as in woods, probably affords the most favorable 
condition for high absorption. Steep slopes are unfavorable, because 
the rain runs off from them rapidly and completely. When the 
ground is frozen it becomes almost impervious and absorption is at a 
minimum. Heavy rains concentrated in a short time wiU in general 
result in less absorption than an equal amount of rain spread over a 
longer time. 

The amount of water that may be absorbed is great. With a rain- 
faU of 48 inches, each acre would receive in the course of a year over 
1,300,000 gaUons of water. If one-fourth of this were to soak into 
the ground and be concentrated in a single spring, that spring would 
discharge an average of six-tenths of a gaUon a minute throughout 
the year. 

The movement of water through the groimd is due for the most part 
to gravity. The water sinks through the pores of the soil until it 
reaches an impervious bed or the ground-water level and then per- 
force it moves lateraUy. Lateral movement over great distances 
does not occur in Connecticut, because the porous soils are cut into 
smaU, discontinuous areas by the numerous ledges of bedrock. 
Inasmuch as the porous-soil cover over the bedrock is in general not 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 29 

very thick the direction of movement is for the most part the same as 
the slope of the smiace of the ground. In the fiat phxins of stratified 
drift this rule holds less rigidly than on irregular till-covered slopes. 
The velocity of circulation depends on the steepness of the slopes 
and the porosity and permeability of the soils. Porosity is the ratio 
of the total volume of the voids between the grains to the total volume 
of the substance and is not concerned with the size of the pores. 
Permeability is the abihty of the material to transmit water and 
depends more on the size of the individual pores. Large pores like 
those of gravels favor rapid circulation of ground water. Fine clays 
may have as high a porosity as the gravels, but because of the inter- 
stitial friction in the fine pores they are virtually impermeable. 

The rise of water through the soil by capillary action is not an 
important factor in the problems of domestic and public water 
supply. It is of moment, however, in -making water accessible to 
vegetation. 

At some depth the pores of the soil are saturated with water. The 
rains and melting snows have continued to supply water to the soil 
and would have saturated it throughout but for the lateral escape of 
the excess. The top of this saturated zone is known variously as the 
ground-water surface, the ground-water level, or the water table. 

The water table is high — that is, near the surface of the ground — 
in regions and seasons of high precipitation, where the soil cover is 
thin and discontinuous and where the surface is level or gently sloping. 
It is likely to be particularly high in small deposits of mantle rock 
filling minor depressions or basins in the bedrock. Along the margins 
of streams, lakes, and swamps the water table is at the surface. It 
is low in arid regions, in times of drought, on steep slopes, and in 
areas where the soil mantle is thick. The depth to the water table 
fluctuates with the seasons and may be increased by drainage of wet 
grounds, by heavy draft on weUs, and to a slight extent by transpi- 
ration from vegetation. The improvements made by man on farms 
and the engineering works in cities tend to lower the water table. 
In Connecticut the greatest fluctuation of the water table is on steep 
slopes from which the water drains readily. In such situations there 
is also a rapid though often temporary replenishment of the ground 
water after rains. 

No general horizons for water-bearing beds are known in Connecti- 
cut, with the exception of the water table in the unconsolidated 
mantle rocks and the water table formed in many places just above 
the bedrock by the blocking off of the downward movement of the 
water by the relatively impervious bedrock. Many weUs dug to 
solid rock and blasted a few feet into it take advantage of this source 
of supply. This water bed also feeds water into the fissure system 
of the bedrocks. 



30 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTQN-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



ce ofjanc/ 




FiGUKE 9.— Diagram showing the usual relation of the water 
table to hills and valleys. 



The till and stratified drift show great contrasts in texture and 
therefore in their ability to hold up the water table and to transmit 
water. Because of its greater permeability the stratified drift 
absorbs water more readily than the till, but it also loses water more 

rapidly. * In most regions 
the water table is nearer the 
surface in valleys and lies 
deeper on the hills, as shown 
in figure 9. In much of 
Connecticut, however, where 
the valleys are filled with 
stratified drift and the hills 
are capped with tiU, the 
anomalous reverse condition 
exists. Because of the much 
slower rate at which the water percolates through the till the water 
table is held up nearer the surface on the hills than it is in the 
valleys. This condition is diagrammaticaUy shown in figure 10. 

TRIAS SIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

A belt 4 to 8 miles wide along the east side of the Southington- 
Granby area is underlain by Triassic rocks. It occupies 195 square 
miles, or nearly 40 per cent of the whole area. 

LITHOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY. 

The lowest of the Triassic beds lie unconformably on the upturned 
edges of the crystalline rocks along the western border of the belt. 
The relation is shown in the 
structure sections across Avon, 
Canton, Simsbury, and Southing- 
ton. (See figs. 18, 22, and 30.) 

The Triassic sediments may be 
divided into four parts separated 
by trap sheets, as is shown in 
the stratigraphic column given in 
figure 11, compiled from the de- 
scriptions given by Davis.^^ The physical differences between the 
four parts are shght, and they can in general be separated only by 
their position relative to the trap sheets. The names are derived 
from their positions in the stratigraphic column. 

The following description of the Triassic sediments is taken from 
the excellent one given by Rice and Gregory :^^^ 

15 Davis, W. M., The Triassic formation in Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Kept., 
pt. 2, pp. 27-29, 189S. 

15a Rice, W. N., and Gregory, H. E., Manual of the geology of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. and Nat. 
Hist. Survey Bull. 6, pp. 163-165, 1906. 




FiGUKE 10. — ^Diagram showing the relation of the 
water table on h Us to the water table in valleys 

in glaciated regions. 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 



31 



'Upper" sandstones 
3,500 ft + 



Red sandstone and shale 
with local conglomerate 



/'''Posterior'trap 
inn-if^oft. 



"V 



Extrusive trap sheet 



"Posterior sandstones 
and shales 
1,200 ft. 



Red shale and red shaly 
sandstone, with a little 
black bituminous shale 



"Main"trap sheet 
AOO-500 ft. 



Extrusive trap sheet; in part 
a double flow 



'Anterior" sandstones 
and shales 
300-1,000 ft 



"Anterior" trap 
• \ 0-250 ft. 



Red shales and red shaly sandstone 
with a little impure limestone 
and black bituminous rock 



Extrusive trap sheet; begins at 
Tariffville and thickens southward 



The rocks would naturally be characterized in a broad way as red sandstone. The 
sandstones, sometimes coarse, sometimes fine, consist mainly of grains of quartz, 
feldspar, and mica resulting from the disintegration of the older rocks which form 
the wall of the trough in which the sandstones were deposited. The prevailing red- 
brown colors of the sandstones are due not to the constituent grains but to the 
cementing material, which contains a large amount of ferric oxide. * * * While 
the name sandstone would properly express the prevalent and typical character of 
the rock, the material is in some strata so coarse as to deserve the name of conglom- 
erate, and in others so fine as to deserve the name of shale. In the conglomerates the 
pebbles may be less than an inch in diameter, but they are sometimes much coarser. 
In some localities occurs a rock 
which has been called "giant 
conglomerate," in which some 
of the boulders are several feet 
in diameter. The conglomer- 
ates occur chiefly near the 
borders of the Triassic areas, 
and in these it is especially 
easy to recognize rocks from 
the disintegration of which the 
pebbles have been derived. 
In general, it may be said that 
the pebbles in any particular 
area are derived from rocks in 
the immediate vicinity. The 
conglomerates in the Connecti- 
cut Valley area are obviously 
derived from the gneisses, 
schists, and pegmatites, which 
are the prevalent rocks of 
the highlands. * * * The 
shales, like the sandstones and 
conglomerates, . are prevail- 
ingly red, owing their color 
likewise to the presence of 
ferric oxide. Some strata of 
shale, however, contain in con- 
siderable quantity hydrocar- 
bon compounds derived from 
the decomposition of organic 
matter. These bituminous 

shales are accordingly nearly black. In the Connecticut Valley area there are two 
thin strata of these bituminous shales, which have been shown, by careful search for 
outcrops, to have a very wide extent. 

There is also a small amount of impure green and gray limestone 
in the Triassic sediments. The red sediments, however, are domi- 
nant. The material and structure of the beds vary greatly and the 
changes in the rock are very abrupt. The stratification is uneven 
and irregular, and the beds are wedge-shaped or lenslike rather than 
uniformly thick over wide areas. 

Although the beds were originally horizontal and in continuous 
masses, they have been tilted 15° or 20° to the east and have been 



"Lower" sandstones 

5,000-6,500 ft. 



Coarse sandstone with conglomerate 
and shale; all red. Basal portion 
conglomeratic in south part of 
area. Basal intrusivesills and 
dikes of trap in parts of the area 



FiGTJEE 11.— Columnar section of the Triassic formations of 
Connecticut. 



82 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

broken into blocks. The nature of the forces that caused this fault- 
ing into blocks has not been conclusively determined. They opened 
many joints and fissures along which there was little or no movement. 
These joints are in general parallel to the bedding or nearly at right 
angles to it, though joints may be found with every conceivable incli- 
nation. The sandstones and conglomerates have more abundant 
and more extensive joints than the shales, for they are rigid and 
relatively brittle rather than plastic and tenacious. The joints are 
rarely more than 50 feet apart and in general are found at intervals 
of 2 to 8 feet. They are more abundant and wider near the surface 
than at some depth. 

OCCURRENCE OF GROUND WATER. 

Ground water occurs in the sedimentary rocks in four ways — in 
pores, along bedding planes, in joints, and along fault lines. Though 
its original source is the rainfall, it is for the most part derived by 
infiltration and percolation from the saturated glacial drift above. 

Water in pores. — ^The sandstone, shale, ' and conglomerate consist 
of particles of quartz, feldspar, mica, and other less abundant min- 
erals and of pebbles of older rocks, all cemented together by fine 
clay and films of iron oxide. The spaces between the grains are not 
completely filled with the cementing material but are partly open 
and may contain water. In the aggregate large quantities of water 
are held in this way, but on account of the smallness of the openings 
the water is not readily given off. Bare outcrops, as in quarries, are 
for the most part dry on the surface, though the interior of the rock 
may be moist. In the sandstones and conglomerates the water in 
the pores is given off slowly to joints, from which it may be recov- 
ered by means of driUed wells. The shales have very fine pores and 
yield but little water. In some places the shales are so impervious 
as to act as restraining beds that concentrate the water in the pores 
of the coarser beds. 

Water in hedding planes.^There is a tendency for the water in the 
pores to be concentrated in and transmitted along the lower parts 
of the coarser beds, where they rest on finer and relatively imper- 
vious beds. It is probable that a few of the wells drilled in Triassic 
rocks draw their supplies from such horizons. 

Water in joints. — ^Joints, which divide all the rocks into polygonal 
blocks of various sizes and shapes, are the chief source of water in the 
bedrocks of Connecticut. They are more abundant and wider in 
sandstone and conglomerate than in shale. These extensive 
crevices are better water bearers than the pores, because they are 
larger and offer less capillary resistance to the circulation of water, 
because they draw on and make available the supply of water stored 
in the pores, and because they are of relatively great extent. Most 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 33 

of the drilled wells and a few of the dug wells in the Triassic area 
draw on the joints for their supplies. 

Water in fault zones. — The faults that break the Ti'iassic rocks of 
Connecticut into great fault blocks are not single fractures, but rather 
zones comprising many parallel planes along which movement took 
place. Because of the great number of water-bearing joints in such 
zones, wells drilled along fault lines are likely to yield very large 
supplies of water. 

TRIASSIC TRAP ROCKS. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

Trap rock is found under two conditions in the Southington- 
Granby area. Along the east boundary there are three extrusive 
sheets which were gently poured out as lavas and interrupted the 
deposition of the Triassic sediments. • Their thickness and relative 
position in the stratigraphic column are shown in figure 11. The 
middle sheet is called the ''Main" sheet, because it is the thickest 
and makes the most prominent cliffs. The eastward tilting of the 
Triassic rocks made the lower sheet crop out on the west or face side 
of the ''Main" sheet, and for this reason it is called the "Anterior" 
sheet. Similarly, the upper sheet is called the '^Posterior" sheet. 
The "Main" sheet follows very closely the east boundary of the 
Southington-Granby area for most of its length. Just to the west 
and a little lower are outcrops of the "Anterior" sheet, which does 
not, however, extend far north of Tariffville but pinches out. The 
"Posterior" sheet is found nowhere in this area except in the eastern 
parts of the towns of New Britain and Farmington. 

Near the contact of the basal Triassic sediments with crystalline 
rocks are intrusive masses of trap — siUs, dikes, and irregular masses 
that were forced into the sediments after they were already buried. 
The sills in general are extensive flat bodies that follow the bedding, 
though in some places they cut across it. One sill extends from a 
point near Milldale southwaAi through Cheshire and Prospect to 
New Haven, and another from Unionville northward through Avon, 
Canton, Simsbury, and Granby. These sills range in thickness from 
less than 100 to more than 400 feet. The dikes are thinner and range 
from 10 to 40 feet. There are several in Cheshire, of which the so- 
caUed Bristol ledge, 4 or 5 miles long, is the most conspicuous. There 
are also a few trap dikes in the crystalline rocks of the highland — ^for 
example, in the southwest corner of Wolcott. 

LITHOLOGY. 

Except for the difference in the position in which they were first 
formed, the two classes of trap are essentially alike. They are dense, 
187118°— 21— wsp 466 3 



34 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

heavy dark-gray to nearly black rocks. The intrusive traps are some- 
what coarser and more perfectly crystallized than the extrusive traps. 
Sometimes the names ''diabase" and ''basalt" are used to differ- 
entiate the intrusive and extrusive traps. 

Like the sedimentary rocks in which they are inclosed the traps 
are cut by numerous joints, some of which were made by the initial 
cooling and shrinkage of the rock and others by the jarring incidental 
to the Jurassic faulting. As the shrinkage and cooling joints tend 
to be normal to the planes of cooling of the rock masses, the joints 
of sills and sheets are generally vertical and those of dikes horizontal. 
The joints are more abundant near the margins of the masses. 

OCCURRENCE OF GROUND WATER. 

Trap rocks have a twofold bearing on the occurrence of ground 
water. The joints may contain water, and the sheets may act as 
impervious layers to restrain the circulation. Trap rocks have a 
very low porosity and carry virtually no water in pores, and of course 
they contain no water corresponding to that along bedding planes of 
sedimentary rocks. Water circulates through the joints and fault 
zones just as in sandstones, but in general less abundantly. Evi- 
dence of this circulation is given by the yellow and brown stains of 
iron oxide along the joints, due to the oxidation and hydration of 
the iron-bearing minerals by the water. 

In a few places a sheet of trap rock above a relatively porous sand- 
stone layer makes it a small artesian basin. The well belonging to 
the Traut & Hine Manufacturing Co., in New Britain (see p. 152), 
seems to have obtained a flow from such a horizon. It is impossible 
to predict that a well in a similar situation will obtain artesian water, 
however, for there may be faults and joints that cut the trap in such 
a way as to allow the water to escape from below. 

The immediate source of the water in the trap rock is the water 
in the formations with which it is in contact: this water enters it 
through the network of interconnecting joints. 

CBYSTAIiLINE ROCKS. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

Crystalline rocks, so named because their constituent mineral 
particles are crystalline rather than fragmental, underlie the western 
three-fifths of the Southington-Granby area — about 308 square miles. 
The extent of these rocks is identical with that of the highland physio- 
graphic provinces, because the characteristic features of the province 
depend in large part on the resistance of these rocks to erosion. 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 35 

LITHOLOGY. 

There are three types of crystalline rocks in the Southington, 
Granby area — schists, gneisses of igneous origin, and gneisses of com- 
plex origin. Each of these types is represented by two or more for- 
mations. 

Schists. — Typical schists are metamorphosed sandstones and shales 
which in tm-n are consolidated sands and muds. The mountain- 
making movements to which this region has been subjected sc^ueezed 
up and folded the sedimentary rocks. At the same time the great 
change in temperature and pressiu'e metamorphosed the rocks com- 
pletely; the quartz sand grains were crushed and strung out, and the 
clayey material was changed to crystalline mica. The mica flakes 
were turned to roughly parallel positions and so give the rock a pro- 
nounced cleavage, known as schistosity. Though other materials 
are present quartz and mica are the most abundant. The Berkshire 
(Ordovician) schist of western Hartland and Barkhamsted and of 
northwestern New Hartford and the Hoosac (^'Hartland") schist 
(also Ordovician) , which extends the whole length of the margin of 
the highland, are of this type. 

Gneisses of igneous origin. — In connection with the dynamic meta- 
morphism of the region were intruded great masses of molten rock. 
They have been metamorphosed like the schists but to a much smaller 
degree. The dark minerals are somewhat segregated and parallelly 
oriented, so that the rock has a fair cleavage. There are five forma- 
tions of this general type in the Southington-Granby area. Typical 
granite gneisses, composed essentially of quartz, feldspar, and mica, 
are the Bristol granite gneiss,^^ which is found in half of Bristol and 
small areas in Plymouth and Burlington; the Collinsville granite 
gneiss, in Canton and Avon; and the Thomaston granite gneiss, 
which occurs in small patches in Plymouth and Harwinton. The 
Prospect porphyritic granite gneiss differs from- these in that some of 
the feldspars are much larger than the others and give the rock a 
porphyritic character. A small area south of Plymouth village is 
underlain by amphibolite, a gneissic rock composed essentially of 
feldspar and hornblende. 

Gneisses of complex origin. — The Waterbury gneiss, in Harwinton, 
Burlington, Plymouth, Wolcott, and Prospect, and the Becket granite 
gneiss, in Harwinton, New Hartford, Barkhamsted, and Hartland, 
are of complex origin and are in a way intermediate between the two 
types described above. Certain parts of the schist have been very 

16 Five gneiss formations (Waterbury gneiss, Bristol granite gneiss, Collinsville granite gneiss, Prospect 
porphyritic granite gneiss, and Thomaston granite gneiss) are here referred to under the provisional names 
given to them on the preliminary geologic map of the State by Gregory and Robinson (Connecticut Geol. 
and Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 7, 1907). These names are used for convenience and may differ from those 
which will be finally adopted by the United States Geological Survey. 



36 GKOUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GEANBY AREA, CONi^. 

extensively injected on a minute scale with igneous material, so that 
its character is materially altered. The thin intrusions for the most 
part follow the planes of schistose cleavage and somewhat obscure 
them. 

OCCURRENCE AND CIRCULATION OF GROUND WATER. 

Water in lamellar spaces. — In the schists and to some extent in the 
gneisses of complex origin, but not in the granite gneisses, there is a 
little water in the spaces between the crystalline grains and flakes. 
Most of the openings are flat, thin, and not extensive^ and few of 
them are interconnected. In the crumpled schists there are small 
tubular openings along the furrows and ridges. The chief function 
played by schistose structure in promoting the circulation of ground 
water is that its weakness in one direction gives rise to numerous 
joints. 

Water in joints and along faults, — The forces that caused meta- 
morphism also made many fractures in the rocks. The fractures are 
even more numerous in the crystalline rocks than in the sandstones, 
but they bear water in the same way. Inasmuch as it is virtually 
impossible to trace faults in the crystalline rocks they will be con- 
sidered here only as compound or enlarged joints in which circulation 
is especially vigorous. 

There are two principal sets of joints; those of one set are nearly 
horizontal, and those of the other nearly vertical. The vertical 
joints, according to EUis/^ are from 3 to 7 feet apart where jointing 
is well developed. In some sheeted zones 1 to 15 feet wide the joints 
are spaced at intervals of 3 inches to 2 feet. In other places they 
are 100 feet apart. Though the spacing increases with depth it is on 
the average less than 10 feet to a depth of 100 feet. Ellis finds that 
for the fijst 20 feet the horizontal joints are 1 foot apart on the 
average; for the next 30 feet they average between 4 and 7 feet; 
and from 50 to 100 feet in depth they are from 6 to 20 feet or more 
apart. The intersecting horizontal and vertical joints form a very 
complicated system of channels through which water may circulate. 
Water is supplied to the network of channels by percolation from the 
overlying mantle of soil. 

ARTESIAN CONDITIONS. 

The word '^ artesian" is derived from the name of the old French 
province of Artois, in which wells of this type first became widely 
kno^vn. Originally the term was applied only to wells from which 
water actually flowed, but now it is applied to wells in which because 
of hydrostatic pressure the water rises above the level of the point 

" Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., UndergrouBd-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 232, p. 65, 19C9. 



ARTESIAN CONDITIONS. 



37 



at which it enters the well. The term is sometimes improperly 
used for any deep well whether the water is under pressure or not. 
The question whether an artesian well will flow or not depends as 
much on the elevation of its mouth as it does on the pressure at 
which the water enters the drill hole. 

The requisite conditions for artesian waters are the existence of 
a porous bed or fractured rock through which water may flow; 
having an outcrop (the imbibition area) where water may soak into 
it, at a higher elevation than the well; relatively impervious strata 
above and below the pervious bed to prevent escape of the water 
and sufficient precipitation on the imbibition ai'ea to fill the pervious 
bed and keep it full. In Connecticut these conditions may be ful- 
filled in two principal ways, but in general there are so many faults 
and open joints that the water loses most of its head and flowing 
weUs are few. The faults and joints prevent the fulfillment of the 




7IGUBE 12.— Diagram showing conditions under which artesian waters may exist in the sandstone 

and shale of Connecticut. 

condition of restraining beds above and below the pervious bed. The 
great majority of the drilled weih, however, are artesian, for the water 
in them rises considerably above the point of entrance. 

A few wells pass through beds of relatively impervious shale and 
draw water from porous sandstones, as shown in figure 12. The 
underlying restraining member may be either a shale bed, as at A, 
or it ma}^ be the dense crystalline mass on which the Triassic beds 
rest, as at B. According to Gregory and Ellis,^^ the black shales of 
the '^ anterior" and "posterior" shales are particularly elFicacious 
restraining layers. Within the limits of the Southington-Granby 
area, however, the black shales are to be found only in New Britain 
and Farmington. In general the beds of the Triassic sedimentary 
rocks are not of sufficient lateral extent to form important reservoirs. 
In a few wells, such as that of the Traut & Hine Manufacturing Co., 
New Britain, a sheet of trap rock may act as a restraining member 

18 Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 232, p. 109, 1909. 



38 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

and form a small artesian basin. This condition is diagrammatically 
illustrated at C in figure 12. (See also ^g, 25, p. 150.) 

Many more wells draw water from the network of fissures than 
from the pores of sandstones and conglomerates. In some of these 
rocks there are no connecting joints that might discharge water to 
the surface below the wells; in others the fissures are so tight that 
they do not discharge water readily. Other wells draw water from 
fissured rock that is overlain by a blanket of till which acts as a 
restraining member. 

SPRINGS. 

A spring, in the broadest sense of the word, is a more or less definite 
surface outlet for the ground water. Springs are formed wherever 
the surface of the ground is so low that it reaches the water table. 
A well is in a sense an artificial spring, for it is made by artificially 
depressing the ground surface till it reaches the water level. There 
arQ many possible conditions which may cause springs, but they may 
all be grouped under three principal heads, as described below. 

SEEPAGE SPRINGS. 

The normal method of escape of water from the groimd is by slow 
seepage in saturated areas on hillsides and along swamps and streams. 
This process may go on over a wide space if the soil is of uniform 
texture, or it may be concentrated in a small body of more porous 
soil. The former process is diffused seepage; the latter produces a 
true spring, and to this class belong the so-called '^boiling springs," 
in which the water enters with sufficient force to keep the sand 
bottom in gentle motion. In a spring of either class the supply may 
be concentrated by the excavation of a collecting reservoir. 

Seepage springs are very likely to be found in small swales cut 
back into a slope. It seems probable that the flow of water is the 
primary cause of the excavation of the swales, but the swales second- 
arily tend to concentrate the flow. Areas of diffused seepage tend 
to dcA^elop into true springs by such a process. 

STRATUM SPRINGS. 

Stratum springs are those in which an outcropping or only slighth^ 
buried ledge or layer of impervious material interrupts the flow of 
ground water and forces it to the sm^face. Springs of this type may 
be made by a ledge of rock underlying saturated drift, by a bed of 
sedimentary rock having less porosity than the adjacent bed, or by 
a body of stratified drift overlying tiU. Many of the springs of the 
Southington-Granby area are of this type. 

In the Farmington-Quinnipiac valley the slopes are covered with 
tiU and the floor with stratified drift. Many springs are found at 
the contact of the tiU and stratified drift. This is an anomalous 



RECOVERY OF GROUND WATER. 39 

condition, for the porous stratified drift seems to force out water 
from the less porous till. One possible explanation is that there is 
a ledge of rock near the surface beneath the boundary of till and 
drift. Inasmuch as the stratified drift is a water-laid deposit, it 
seems probable that the stream cut away most of the till before 
laying down the stratified material. 

FAULT AND JOINT SPRINGS. 

Faults and joints greatly facilitate the circulation of water thi-ough 
rocks, and where they reach the surface they may supply springs. 
Some faults carry a good deal of water under considerable pressure 
and may be considered analogous to artesian wells. 

RELATION OF SPRINGS TO WELLS. 

Springs that have been improved by excavation to a considerable 
depth are hard to distinguish from wells that have obtained water 
at moderate depths. In this report the criterion taken for classify- 
ing such springs is the original condition of the ground. If it appears 
to have been a wet or springy spot, the term ^'spring" is applied re- 
gardless of the depth of excavation. If the surface was dry in the 
first place, the term "welP' is applied no matter how shallow the 
depth at which the water table was found. 

RECOVERY OF GROUND WATER. 
DUG WELLS. 
CONSTRUCTION. 

Dug wells are constructed by digging holes in the ground deep 
enough to extend below the water table. The excavation is generally 
made 8 or 10 feet in diameter, and in it is built a lining of dry or 
mortared masonry or brickwork, concrete, vitrified tile, or planking. 
As the weU is walled up the space outside the lining is filled. The 
filling should be of some porous material such as coarse sand or gravel, 
but most weU diggers pay no attention to this point. Most dug 
weUs when completed are 3 to 5 feet in diameter, though some are 
much larger; and they range in depth from a few feet up to 80 feet. 
The average depth of the dug wells measured in the Southington- 
Granby area is about 20 feet, and they contain on an average 5 feet 
of water. 

Some wells are specially constructed so as to draw on a large area. 
The well of J. H. Sessions & Sons in the southeastern part of the city 
of Bristol has at the top a vertical line of tile 2 feet in diameter that 
extends 6 feet underground and rests on the domed roof of a bricked 
chamber 6 feet in diameter and 16 feet high. Seven iron pipes 4 
inches in diameter and 10 to 25 feet long radiate from the bottom of 



40 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

the chamber and draw water from a roughly circular area of gravel 
about 35 feet in diameter. It is beheved that this well will yield 40 
gallons a minute for a whole day's run. 

LIFTING DEVICES. 
BAILING DEVICES. 

A number of different devices are in use for raising water from dug 
wells. All are modifications of a simple bucket for bailing out water, 
of the displacement pump, or of the siphon. 

The most primitive method is bailing with a dipper in very shallow 
wells, or with a bucket hung from a rope in deeper wells. In some 
places the rope is replaced by a light pole with a snap ring by which 
the bucket is held. The devices are not only inconvenient and la- 
borious but insanitary. Most wells used in this way have no covers, 
so that there is every opportunity for the entrance of leaves, sticks, 
dust, small animals, and other foreign matter. Moreover, the 
handling of the bucket may transfer objectionable matter from the 
hands to the water. There are various modifications which though 
not much more sanitary are less laborious. 

In the typical ''one-bucket rig" there is over the well a gallows-like 
framework from which is hung a pulley. The rope is fastened at one 
end to the ciu*bing and at the other to the bucket. The " two-bucket 
rig '^ is similar except that it has a bucket at each end of the rope, and 
the necessity of sending down the bucket before drawing water is 
eliminated. The curbing for either of these rigs should be tight and 
have a cover or roof. 

In the "sweep rig" the bucket is himg by a rope or slender pole 
from the small end of a sweep 1 5 to 40 feet long. The sweep is pivoted 
at a crotch in a convenient tree or over a pole set firmly in the ground, 
and has at its butt end a counterbalancing weight of some sort. 

In the "wheel and axle rig" the rope from the bucket winds around 
a wheel 2 to 4 feet in diameter which has a grooved face to keep the 
rope from slipping off. The wheel is carried on an axle 4 to 8 inches 
in diameter suspended above the well and a little off center. Wound 
around the axle is a second rope to which a heavy stone or block of 
iron is hung. The greater weight of the stone acting on the axle 
counterbalances the lesser weight of the bucket acting on the large 
wheel. 

In the "windlass rig" the rope from the bucket winds around a 
drum 5 or 6 inches in diameter to one end of which a crank is attached. 
The windlass is set over the well, and on the drum are flanges io keep 
the rope from running off. Many are provided with a ratchet to 
prevent the bucket from falling back and with a brake to use in 
lowering the bucket. Some of the brakes are of the band type, and 
some are merely boards hinged at one end to the side of the curbing 



RECOVERY OF GROUND WATER. 41 

and bearing near the middle on the drum. In some windlass rigs the 
rope is replaced by chains either of the ordinary sort or flat linked, 
by leather straps, or by flat straps of mild brass. 
I The ''counterbalanced rig" is a modification of the windlass rig 
in which the rope instead of winding aroimd a drum passes over a 
pulley carried on the crank axle. One end of the rope has a bucket 
and the other a weight that more than counterbalances the empty 
bucket but is lighter than the full bucket. In some rigs a chain and 
suitably notched pulley are used instead of a rope and smooth pulley. 

The rigs described above, as they are generally installed, are open 
to criticism on sanitary grounds. At far too many weUs the open 
curbs and inward-sloping surrounding surface allow access of for- 
eign matter to the water, and moreover there is danger of pollution 
from the handling of the bucket and rope. All the devices are much 
safer when the curbs are tight and hinged covers are provided which 
may be kept closed except while water is being drawn. It is also a 
good plan to bank up the earth around the well curb or to build a con- 
crete apron aroimd it so that surface water and drippings will flow 
away from the well. With the wheel and axle rig and the windlass 
rig it is possible to avoid the transfer of objectionable matter from the 
hands by using an automatic tippiug and filling bucket, an ordinary 
bucket equipped with a flap valve in the bottom to facilitate filling, 
and a pair of metal prongs fastened opposite one another on the rim. 
For a few feet next to the bucket the rope is replaced by a flat chain 
that as it rolls onto the windlass drum turns the bucket so that one 
or the other of the prongs catches a cross rod inside the curb. By 
winding up a little more the bucket is tipped and emptied into a spout. 
With this arrangement it is unnecessary to open the curb, which may 
be made thoroughly tight agaiust foreign matter, or to handle the 
bucket except on rare occasions for repairs. 

The arrangement of the windlass at one well that was visited is 
worthy of description. The well is just outside the house, and the 
windlass crank extends through the wall into the house. The water 
is dumped from an automatic tipping bucket into the spout, from 
which it flows into a piece of galvanized-iron conductor pipe that also 
goes through the wall and delivers the water indoors. In winter the 
discomfort of drawing water is reduced to a minimum. 

PTTMPS. 

Among the principal classes of pumps are displacement pumps, 
impeller pumps, bucket pumps, and air lifts. Displacement pumps 
are of two principal sorts — ^pitcher pumps and deep-well pumps. 
Both consist of a cylinder in which a piston moves. At the bottom 
of the cylinder and in the piston are valves that open upward. When 
the piston is raised water rushes into the cylinder from below, and 



42 GROUND WATEE IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN, 

when the piston is shoved down the water rises through its valve. 
Repetition of the movement raises the water in successive small 
masses. In a pitcher pump the working cylinder is at the top of the 
pipe, above the ground, and the pump is not closed in above the 
piston. In a deep-well pump the working cylinder is at some depth 
and is connected with the dehvery pipe by a closed covering or cap. 
On top of the delivery pipe is a standard to carry the pump handle, 
and a rod runs down through the delivery pipe to the piston. Some 
deep-weU pumps are double acting — that is, they have two pairs of 
valves so arranged that water is pumped on both the rising and the 
descending stroke of the piston instead of only on the rising stroke. 
Displacement pumps, theoretically, ought to work when the cylinder 
is 32 feet or less above the water level, but in practice it is found that 
on account of leaks and friction they will not work when the suction 
lift is more than 25 to 28 feet. These figures apply to pumps working 




Pitcher pump 
in kitchen 




Deep well pump with 
cylinder in cellar 



FiGXJEE 13. — Diagram showing two types of installation of "house pumps," 

at sea level, but they must be decreased at high altitudes on account 
of the lesser atmospheric pressure. Deep-well pumps are superior 
to pitcher pumps in that they are less liable to freezing, need little or 
no priming, and can be used in deeper wells by lowering the working 
cylinder. 

Sometimes a displacement pump is installed in the house or bam at 
some distance from the weU, as shown in figure 13. The suction 
limit (vertical distance between working cylinder and water level) 
is reduced to some extent when the horizontal distance between well 
and pump is increased. In this report installations of this kind are 
called '^ house pumps." Some have a pitcher pump with the working 
cylinder on the first floor, and some have a deep-well pump with the 
working cyhnder in the cellar and the pump-handle standard on the 
first or even the second floor. 

Chain pumps are used in many weUs in Connecticut and are of two 
varieties — rubber-bucket pumps and metal-bucket pumps. A rub- 
ber-bucket pump is a displacement pump of special type and consists 



RECOVERY OF GROUND WATER. 43 

of a long tube, generally of wood, through which is passed an endless 
chain that has thick rubber washers on special links inserted at inter- 
vals of 6 to 10 feet. At the top the tube is fastened to a curbing, 
across the top of which is an axle with a crank and sprocket wheel to 
carry the chain. When the crank is turned the chain is drawn up 
through the tube and the rubber washers act as pistons and raise 
water which is discharged through an opening in the tube near the 
top. 

Metal-bucket pumps are similar to rubber-bucket pumps in ex- 
ternal appearance, but their principle is quite different. A chain, 
made of alternating plain flat links and special flat links that are 
fitted with small metal buckets, passes over a sprocket wheel turned 
by a crank. The buckets are about 2 inches square and 4 inches 
deep, and each has a lip so constructed that as it passes over the 
wheel it empties into a hopper-like spout the water it has carried up 
from below. 

All these pimips are sanitary when the curbing and platform are 
tight enough to prevent waste water, surface drainage, and solid 
foreign matter from entering the well. 

On a few farms where garden truck is raised the high commercial 
value of the crops, especially if they are forced for early markets, 
makes the pumping of water for irrigation profitable. WeUs of 
large diameter are dug, but as the sanitary quality of the water is 
relatively unimportant they need not be covered or very carefully 
walled up. If the water table is high and the yield of the weU large, 
as on some of the stratified-drift plains of the Soutlungton-Granby 
area, centrifugal pumps driven by gasoHne engines have been found 
to be well suited to the conditions. Inside a closed casing is a fan- 
like wheel, which is rotated at high speed and gives the water enough 
centrifugal inertia to force it out through a tangential discharge pipe. 
A partial vacuum is produced at the center of the pump and the 
water rushes in through a central opening. These pumps have to be 
primed, but they are only sHghtly affected by grit in the water. If 
properly designed and of the right size for the task given them they 
are very efficient. 

SIPHON AND GRAVITY RIGS. 

Dug wells that are situated higher than the points at which the 
water is to be used may be developed by means of a siphon pipe line 
provided the water level is not more than 25 feet below the ground 
and is above the point of dehvery. Figure 14 illustrates such an 
installation. In some wells where the water level is very near the 
surface and where no hill intervenes between the well and the point 
of delivery and in many springs a direct gravity system may be used, 
obviating the necessity of occasionally priming the siphon. The 
gravity and siphon rigs are highly sanitary provided the surroundings 



.44 GROUKD WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, COl^N". 

of the well or spring are safeguarded. If lead pipe is used care should 
be taken not to use any water that has stood a long time in the pipe. 
In some places where the fall from the well is not great enough to 
carry the water to the first floor of the house the water runs continu- 
ously to a cistern in the cellar and is pumped up by hand. The over- 
flow of siphon and gravity systems is in many places used for water- 
ing troughs. 

RAMS. 

WeUs and springs of large yield that lie lower than the point of 
utilization may be developed by rams. The hydraulic ram is a 
mechanical device that uses the momentum of a relatively large 
volume of water falling a short distance to raise a smaU volume to a 
relatively great height. TheoreticaUy 100 gallons falling 10 feet 
woifld have enough energy to raise 10 gallons 100 feet or 1 gaUon 
1,000 feet, and other quantities and distances in proportion. How- 
ever, on accomit of leakage through the valves and elasticity and 
friction in the pipes this condition is not realized. According to 
tables given by Bjorling,^^ when the ratio of lift to faU is 4 to 1, the 
ram wiU lift 86 per cent of the theoretical amount; with a ratio of 10 
to 1, 53 per cent; with a ratio of 15 to 1, 17 per cent; and with a ratio 
of 25 to 1, only 2 per cent. Bjorling says further that the length of 
the drive pipe should be- five to ten times as great as the faU. The 
delivery pipe (from the ram to the storage tank) should have an area 
of cross section from one-fourth to one-third as large as that of the 
supply or drive pipe (from the spring or well to the ram). The rapid- 
ity of the beat should be as great as is compatible with perfect and 
complete action of the valves and in most rams may be regulated by 
adjusting springs or weights on the main valve. Rams are open to 
the objection that they are noisy. The noise is transmitted along 
iron pipes but may be reduced or eliminated by the use of lead pipe 
or of a section of rubber hose. 

Many people have been disappointed in trying to use rams because 
they did not realize their limitations. Rams must of necessity waste 
a large portion of the water. Before instaUing a ram careful meas- 
urement should be made of the flow of the well or spring during 
its lowest season, the amount of fall available, the amount of lift 
desired, and the horizontal distance from weU to ram. If these 
data are supplied to the makers they wiU be able to recommend the 
best model and size of ram. With proper conditions a suitable ram 
properly installed will furnish a reliable, inexpensive, and permanent 
supply. It is customary to have the water from the ram delivered to 
a reservoir or tank in an elevated position, from which it is distrib- 
uted by gravity. 

19 Bjorling, P. R., Water or hydraulic motors, pp. 264-271, 1894. 



RECOVEKY OF GROUND WATER, 



45 




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46 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

Mr. H. S. Parmelee, of Granby, owns and operates a unique ram. 
It is installed at the crest of a siphon and differs from the ordinary 
ram only in that the waste valve is inclosed in order to prevent loss 
of suction. The chest in which the valves are built is virtually only 
an enlargement of the siphon pipe. The ram has been in operation 
over 20 years and has required only trifling outlays for repairs. The 
well is 7.7 feet deep and at the time it was visited (Oct. 25, 1915,) had 
1.2 feet of water in it. The water, then, stands 6.5 feet below the 
ram, which is at the mouth of the well, and the waste pipe or long leg 
of the siphon discharges 10.5 feet below, so that there is an effective 
working head of 4 feet. The ram drives the water to a tank on the 
second floor of the house, 15 feet above the mouth of the weU. This 
type of ram was patented in 1S56 by E.'W. Ellsworth (patent No. 
16176) but seems not to be manufactured at present. It is emi- 
nently suited to raising small quantities of water from a shallow well 
that is situated where it is difficult to dig a trench for a gravity sup- 
ply sloping to an ordinary ram. It also has the advantage that it 
can be operated on a very small How, because the working parts are 
small and light. 

WINDMILLS AND AIR-PRESSTJIIE TANKS. 

A popular method of supplying water is by the use of a windmill, 
pumping jack, pump, and reservoir. Many modifications are used; 
the windmill may be of steel or wood, on a steel or wood tower; the 
reservoir may be of steel, wood, or concrete and may be on the tower, 
on a near-by hill, or in a separate building. 

Another equipment which is used by many people is the air-pres- 
sure system. A cylinder pump driven by a gasoline engine or elec- 
tric motor pumps water into a closed steel tank containing air. As 
the water comes in it compresses the air and gives pressure suffi- 
cient to drive the water through the plumbing of the house. The 
pump is fitted with a snif ting valve which takes in a little air with each 
stroke to replace that dissolved and absorbed by the water. Some of 
the tanks are e(iuipped with telltales which give a signal or auto- 
matically start the motor when the water level is reduced below a set 
limit. It is the usual practice to put the tank in the cellar, but some 
are in specially constructed pits outside. 

When tanks or reservoirs are built in the open it is found that the 
water is apt to become disagreeably warm in summer and to give 
trouble by freezing in winter. If the water is used for irrigation the 
heating in summer is an advantage in that the warm water gives less 
shock to the plants on which it is put, and no trouble is experienced 
in winter as the tanks are then drained and not in use. 

PUMPING TESTS ON DUG WELLS. 

One of the most important questions relative to the development 
of ground water is that of the available amount. Studies were made 
of two dug wells in the Southington-Granby area — one in till and 



EECOVEEY OF GKOUND WATEK. 



47 



one in red sandstone — and indicated a very low rate of supply but 
yet sufficient for ordinary domestic needs. A study of a well in 
East Granby in stratified drift is cited for purposes of comparison. 
On July 3, 1915, a test was made of Mr. Edwin L. Upson's well, 
in the town of Southington, shown on the map (PL III) as No. 97. 
The well is 22.3 feet deep and at the time had 5.4 feet of water in it. 
The lower 9 feet is blasted out of red sandstone, from cracks in which 
the water enters the well. The well has an average diameter of 
about 4 feet 2 inches. The equipment consists of a two-bucket rig 
at the well and an air-pressure system. A gasoline engine in a pit 
back of the house drives a double-acting cylinder pump (3-inch 
bore, 3^-inch stroke), which forces water and air into a cylindrical 
tank (3 feet in diameter, 8 feet in length) in the cellar. The pump 
was run from 10.25 to 11.25 a. m., and about 270 gallons 
was pumped into the tank. The depth from a datum point 
on the well curb was measured at 10-minute intervals during 
pumping in order to determine the rate of lowering. Then meas- 
m-ements were made at 15-minute intervals up to 4.05 p. m. to 
get the rate of inflow. Mr. Upson kindly made observations at 
greater intervals until the water had regained its original level. It 
took the well about 70 hours to refill. The following table gives the 
data: 

Depths to water level in E. L. Upson^s well, Southington, during pumping test. 



Date. 


Time. 


Depth 
(feet). 


Remarks. 


Julys 


10. 25 a. m. 
10.35 


19. 58 
20.00 


Pumping commencJed. 


V «-*-^^ vr****...*.........*....*...........*- 






10.45 


20. 56 






10.55 


21.02 






11.05 


21.33 






11.17 


21.70 






11.25 


21.96 


Pumping ceased. 




11.40 


21.93 






11.55 


21.91 






12. 15 p.m. 


21.87 






12.25 


21.85 






12.50 


21.82 






1.06 


21.79 






1.20 


21.77 






1.35 


21.74 






1.50 


21.72 






2.05 


■21.69 






2.20 


21,67 






2.35 


21.65 






2.50 


21.63 






3.05 


21.61 






3.20 


21.58 






3.35 


21.56 






3.50 


21.54 






4.05 


21.53 






6.05 


21.37 


Observations from this time on by Mr. 
Upson. 


July4 


6.05 a.m. 
9.05 


20.62 
20.57 




" ***•? ■•-•••-•••••• >••-.-.-........-.....-. 






12. 05 p. m. 


20.42 






3.05 


20.30 






6.05 


20.22 




Julys 


6.05 a.m. 
9.05 


19.93 
19.90 










12.05 p.m. 


19.84 






6.05 


19.70 




July 6 


5.30 a.m. 


19.58 









48 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



The figures in the table are also graphically expressed in figure 15. 
The irregularities in the curve for the forenoons of July 4 and 5 
represent depressions of the water level by drawing water for house 
use. The rate of inflow was calculated for the first 6 J hours and for 
each succeeding 12-hour period. 

Rate of inflow and corresponding average depression of the water table in E. L. Upson's 

well, Southington, duri/ng pumping test. 



Period. 


Depres- 
sion of 
water 
level 

(feet). 


Rate of 
inflow 
(gallons 

per 
hour). 


Period. 


Depres- 
sion of 
water 
level 
(feet). 


Rate of 

inflow 

(gallons 

per 
hour). 


First 


2.09 

1.41 

.84 


9 

6.4 

3.4 


Fourth 


0.49 
.23 
.06 


2.5 


Second 


Fifth 


2 


Third 


Sixth 


1 









The data in this table are also graphically expressed in the inserted 
diagram in figure 15. 

The following conclusions may be drawn. The draft of 270 gallons 
was replenished in about three days, but if pumping were done at 




I2m. 6p.m. 12p.m. 6a.m. 12m. 6p.m. 12pm. 6a.m. izm. bp.m. iZp.m. 6a.m. 

July3,l9l5 July4 July 5 JulyG 

Figure 15.--Diagram showing recovery of E, L. Upson's well, Southington, after pumping, and relation 

of inflow to drawdown. 

frequent intervals more water could be taken. If the periods of 
pumping were only six hours apart there would be 54 gallons available 
each time, for there would have intervened six hours with an average 
inflow of 9 gallons an hour. This is equivalent to 216 gallons a day. 
Under actual conditions of operation about 90 gallons a day is avail- 
able, which seems to satisfy the demands on the well. 



RECOVERY OF GROUND WATER. 



49 



On June 2, 1915, a pumping test was made of Mr. H. W. Cleve- 
land's dug well, at the northwest corner of the green in Plymouth 
village, to ascertain its rate of inflow. The well is No. 12 on the 
map (PL III). It is dug on a gently sloping hillside in a rather sandy 
till with an average amount of boulders and is in every sense a typical 
till well. The well is 24 feet deep and before pumping had 8.8 feet 
of water in it. The diameter is about 3 feet 3 inches. There is an 
air-pressure tank in the cellar with a cylinder pump driven by a 
J-horsepower gasoline engine. The depth to the water was meas- 
ured from a convenient datum on the well curb. In H hours of 
pumping the water was lowered 4.06 feet, which represents a pump age 
of about 34 cubic feet, or 250 gallons. After pmnping ceased the 
depth to water was measm*ed at intervals of 15 minutes. In 2f 
hours the level had risen 0.59 foot, which is equivalent to an inflow of 
about 5 cubic feet, or 37 gallons. This is at the rate of 13.3 gallons 
an hoiu- for the whole well or 0.35 gallon an hour per square foot 
of seepage surface. 

The following table gives the depth to water at intervals during 
the pmnping of the well and during the first 2| hours of recovery: 

Record of pumping test on H. W. Cleveland's well, Plymouth. 



Time 
(p.m). 


Depth from 
datum 
(feet). 


Remarks. 


1.20 
1.40 
2.00 
2.13 
2.25 
2.40 
2.50 
3.05 
3.20 
3.35 
3.50 
4.05 
4.20 
4.35 
4.50 
5.05 
5.20 
5.35 


15.59 
16.17 
17.32 
17.92 
18.43 
19.19 
19.65 
19.59 
19.54 
19.48 
19.42 
19.38 
19.32 
19.26 
19.20 
19.15 
19.10 
19.06 


Pumping commenced. 
Pumping ceased a few minutes. 
Pumping ceased. 



Figure 16 is a graphic representation of the^ data in the table. If 
the rate of recovery were constant, regardless of the amount of de- 
pression, and if it should proceed as rapidly as is indicated by the 
above figures, it would take about 19 hours for the well to fill to its 
original level. However, as the weU fills there is less and less area 
from which seepage may take place, so the rate of inflow becomes 
slower and slower and the total time would be much longer. If the 
weU were piunped to the capacity indicated by this test — that is, 
if 37 gallons was pumped every 2 J hours — it could be made to yield 
187118°— 21— wsp 466 i 



50 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



about 320 gallons every 24 hours. This well gives about one and a 
half times as much water as Mr. Upson's well but with a greater 
drawdown. 

Tests made in 1916 on a dug well in stratified drift in Granby indi- 
cate a still greater yield.^^ This well was not observed during pump- 
ing, but after pumping ceased the water was observed to rise 1.53 
feet in 41 minutes. As the well is about 4 feet in diameter, this is 
equivalent to an inflow of over 140 gallons. This well could be made 
to yield at least 210 gallons an hour, or 5,000 gallons a day. 

Mr. Edward Wassong's dug well in till in the southeastern part of 
Southington also has a large yield. The weU Hes east of the house, 

on the talus slope of 
Meriden West Peak. 
The soil seems to be iq 
part till and in part 
talus and must be a 
good aquifer, for the 
supply is abundant. 
The well is 29 feet deep 
and on April 14, 1915, 
had 13 feet of water 
in it. Its diameter is 
about 3 feet. A siphon 
carries the water to the 
house and to a cream- 
ery about 65 feet lower 
in elevation. The 
water runs continually 
into the cooling tank. 
The stream was of suf- 
ficient size at the time the well was visited to fill a 20-quart mUk 
can in 1 minute and 57 seconds. This is equivalent to a little over 
150 gallons an hour, or 3,600 gallons a day. 

INFLLTBATION GALLERIES. 

An infiltration gallery is a modification of a dug well and derives 
its water in a similar way. Tumeaure and Russell ^^ say of them : 

Where ground water can be reached at moderate depths it is sometimes intercepted 
by galleries constructed across the line of flow. * * * In form a gallery may 
consist of an open ditch which leads the water away, or it may be a closed conduit of 
masonry, wood, iron, or vitrified clay pipe, provided with numerous small openings 
to allow the entrance of water. * * * Galleries are usually constructed in an open 
trench. They are arranged to lead the water to the pump well and may be provided 




eo 



Figure 16.- 



2.00 



3.00 



^.00 



5.00 



6.00 



xi tv/i e: 
-Diagram showing recovery of H. W. Cleveland's 
well, Plymouth, after pumping. 



20 Palmer, H. S., Ground water in the Norwalk, Sxrffield, and Glastonbury areas, Conn.: U. S. Geol. 
Survey Water-Supply Paper 470, pp. 41-43, fig. 9, 1920. 
a Tumeaure, F. E., and Russell, H. L., Public water supplies, pp. 318-320, 1909, 



RECOVEKY OF GROUND WATER. 51 

with gates so that the water may be shut off from various sections. The cost of galleries 
ifi about the same as that of sewers in similar ground. It rapidly increases with the 
depth, but up to a depth of 20 or 25 feet it is suflBciently low so that the construction 
of galleries can often be advantageously undertaken. A gallery not only intercepts 
the water more completely than wells, but it replaces the suction pipe, it is more 
durable than either pipe or wells, and all trouble from pumping air is avoided. 

Filter galleries may be so constructed that surface water is flooded 
over the ground alongside them and is collected in them after the 
removal of suspended matter as the water percolates through the 
soil. 

DRIVEN WELLS. 

Driven weUs are made by driving a pipe into the ground by means 
of a maul or machine resembling a pile driver. The pipe is made 
up of enough sections to reach the ground-water level and may have 
either an open end or a closed end. 

In closed-end driven wells a drive point shghtly larger than the 
the pipe is used to penetrate the ground. Above the point is a per- 
forated section covered with wire gauze which prevents sand from 
entering the well. As the pipe is driven down sections are screwed 
on to lengthen it. The pipes are usually from three-quarters of an 
inch to 3 inches in diameter, and the screens from 2 to 4 feet long. 

Open-end driven weUs are made by driving a plain pipe which may 
or may not have a heavy cutting shoe attached to it. The material 
inside the pipe is removed by means of a sand pump or a jet. In 
the jetting method water is forced down a small pipe inside the drive 
pipe and as it rises it carries up the sand, silt, and smaller pebbles. 
The pipe is perforated either before driving or by special tools after 
driving. 

Either kind of driven well should be pumped very heavily for a 
while after driving in order to remove the fine silt and sand and to 
leave a screenlike layer of pebbles outside the perforated section. 

Several kinds of pumps are used with driven wells. The most 
common practice is to screw a pitcher pump to the top of the pipe. 
In some of the larger driven wells a deep-well pump is put down 
inside the pipe, and in others a specially constructed section of the 
casing acts as the pump cylinder. 

Driven wells are suited to loose sands and gravels in which caving 
would make trouble in digging wells. They are inexpensive and 
have the advantage that if they are unsuccessful the pipe may be 
withdrawn and used at another place. One disadvantage of driven 
wells is the proneness of the screen to become clogged by an incrus- 
tation of mineral matter or by silt and sand, and another is that fine 
particles may be drawn up with the water and score the working 
parts of the pump so that it works poorly. 



52 GKOUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AEEA, CONl^. 



DRILLED WELLS. 

Drilled wells are in general deeper than dug or driven wells, and 
obtain their water from cracks and fissures in bedrock. They are 
made either by a percussion machine or by an abrasion machine. A 
percussion drill or chum drill has a long steel bar with a hardened 
and sharpened bit at the lower end. This is worked up and down by 
an engine and pounds its way through the rock. At intervals the 
drill is withdrawn and the debris is removed by means of a sand pump. 
Abrasion machines are built to revolve a hoUow steel cyhnder shod 
with chilled-steel shot or with diamonds. The rotation of the shot 
cuts a circular channel surrounding a core, which is broken into 

short sections and removed 
from the hole. It is neces- 
sary in general to put an iron 
or steel casing in the part 
of the drill hole above bed- 
rock. Drilled weUs in Con- 
necticut range in diameter 
from 4 to 12 inches. 

Where only moderate 
amounts of water are needed 
a pump of the deep-well 
type operated by hand or 
by power is used. In some 
weUs where large amounts 
of water are to be raised 
from a great depth use is 
made of an air lift. Com- 
pressed air is forced down 
an air pipe and delivered 
near the bottom of a discharge pipe and then expands and rises, 
bringing water with it. The delivery pipe may be hung inside the 
well with the air pipe alongside it, as in a, figure 17, or the rock 
wall of the well and the casing may act as the delivery pipe, as 
shown in h. Each manufacturer puts out special designs of air noz- 
zles that are claimed to be particularly effective, but aU seem to 
work about equally well. It is essential that the length of the sub- 
merged portion of the air pipe should be from 30 to 70 per cent of the 
distance from the bottom of the air pipe to the point of discharge. 
In shallow wells the percentage of submergence must be greater 
than in deeper wells. The pressure used ranges from 20 to 100 
pounds to the square inch and is often calculated at one-half to one- 
fourth pound for each foot of lift. The two great advantages of the 




Figure 17. — Diagrams showing two types of air lift. 



I 



RECOVERY OF GROUND WATER. 53 

air lift are that it has no moving parts in the well, where they would 
be rather inaccessible in case of wear by grit in the water, and that 
it may be controlled and operated from a distant air-compressing 
station. 

The success or failure of drilled wells can not be predicted, because 
of the irregular distribution of the fissures, but it is probable that at 
any point a satisfactory water supply will be obtained. Among the 
237 drilled wells in crystalline rocks studied by Ellis ^^ only 3, or 1.24 
per cent, are recorded as obtaining no water. A supply of 2 gallons 
a minute is considered abundant for domestic needs, though insuffi- 
cient for certain purposes such as manufacturing. Among the 134 
wells drilled in crystalline rocks whose yield Ellis ascertained, only 
17, or about 12.5 per cent, fm'nish less than 2 gallons a minute. It is 
probably a moderate estimate to state that not less than 90 per cent 
of the wells sunk in the crystalline rocks have given supplies suffi- 
cient for the use required. Wells may be unsuccessful not only as 
regards the quantity of the supply but also as regards the quality. 
The quahty of the waters from the drilled wells in the Southington- 
Granby area is in general good, but near the sea these wells are likely 
to yield brackish or salt water. 

Although wells are reported by Ellis that obtain water at aU depths 
from 15 to 800 feet, the largest percentage of failures is in weUs over 
400 feet deep. This is due to the smaller number and greater tight- 
ness of joints at considerable depths. From a consideration of the 
greater cost per foot of drilling at depth and of the lesser probabili- 
ties of success it is concluded that ^'if a well has penetrated 250 feet 
of rock without success the best policy is to abandon it and sink in 
another, locahty ." 

Gregory ,2^ speaking of wells drilled in sandstone, says that ^' of the 
194 weUs recorded * * * only 11, or 5.6 per cent, failed to obtain 
2 gallons a minute, the minimum amount desired for domestic pur- 
poses." The average yield of 112 of these weUs is '^27 J gallons a 
minute, the largest being 350 gallons and the smallest two-thirds of 
a gallon." In view of the decreasing abundance in which fissures are 
foimd as depth increases and of the greater cost of deep drilling it is 
considered "good practice to abandon a well that has not obtained 
satisfactory suppUes at 250 to 300 feet." 

w Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 232, p. 91 , 1909. 
"Idem, p. 130. 



54 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

Statistics of drilled wells in various kinds of rocks in the Southington-Granhy area. 





Averag 


e yield. 


Average depth. 


Kind of rock. 


Gallons 

per 
minute. 


Number 

of 
records. 


Total. 


To rock. 


To water. 




Feet. 


Number 

of 
records. 


Feet. 


Number 

of 
records. 


Feet. 


Number 

of 
records. 


Stratified drift 


12.5 

24.1 

2 

11.3 


2 

37 

1 

18 


61.4 

' 134. 5 

127.6 

145.8 


9 

68 

5 

24 


- 




19.7 
25.9 


3 


Sandstone 


29.6 
39.6 
27.8 


57 

4 

22 


28 


Trap 




Crystalline rocks 


20.0 


11 




19.6 


58 


129.6 


106 


30.5 


85 


23.9 


42 



Kind of rock. 


Nnmber of wells yielding, in gallons per minute— 


Total 
number 
of wells. 


Average 

yield 
(gallons 




0-5 


6-15 


16-25 


26-50 


51-100 


Over 100 


per 
minute). 


Stratified drift' 

Sandstone 



13 

1 
10 


2 

8 

5 



6 

1 



6 

1 



2 

1 



2 




2 
37 

1 
18 


12J 
24 


Trap 


2 


Crystalline rocks 


lU 




24 


15 


7 


7 


3 


2 


58 


19 



No measurements of the yield of drilled wells were made by the 
writer, but many of the owners were able to give the figures deter- 
mined by the drillers. The yield of drilled wells at some manufac- 
turing plants is rather accm-ately known. 

SPRINGS. 

In developing a spring as a source of water supply it is advisable 
to make some sort of a substantial collecting basin. No material 
which may rot should be used. Rotting works in two ways to injure 
a spring supply — it adds objectionable decayed organic matter, and 
it weakens the walls so as to allow the entrance of surface water 
which may be polluted by persons or animals that come to the spring. 
No spring should be so arranged that water must be dipped from it, 
as this process allows the transfer of pollution from the hands. The 
reservoir should be covered and a pipe provided to carry off the flow, 
as this method not only prevents pollution from the hands but also 
prevents treading and pollution by cattle around the spring. If 
the spring is used for watering stock a pipe and trough should be 
provided. 

In order that the water may enter the reservoir readily its bottom 
should be thoroughly perforated or it should have no bottom, but 
it should have stout, water-tight walls extending a foot or two above 
and below the ground level to prevent the entrance of surface wash. 
Where it is desirable to use the full yield of the spring, the shape of 
the springy area determines the shape of the reservoir. The springs 



RECOVERY OF GROUND WATER. 



55 



of tHe Satan's Kingdom Spring Water Co., in New Hartford (No. 61, 
PI. Ill), are in a line running along at a uniform level on a steep slope. 
A trench about 25 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 3 feet deep was dug, and 
walls of concrete 1 foot thick and 4 feet high were built in it to form a 
collecting gallery. Sides and roof of frame construction were put 
on to keep out foreign matter. The shape allows nearly complete 
recovery of the water. If only a moderate supply is needed the reser- 
voir may be of any convenient shape. Small springs may be devel- 
oped by setting a length of large pipe of concrete, iron, or vitrified 
tile vertically in the ground. Such tile is superior to a wooden cask 
or box because of its greater durability and lesser expense in the long 
run. Whatever the type of the reservoir, it should be provided with a 
cover or roof that will effectually keep out leaves, sticks, wind-blown 
dirt, and small animals. 

It was possible to make rough measurements of the yield of a num- 
ber of springs well distributed throughout the Southington-Granby 
area. Some were measured by observing the time necessary to fill 
a vessel of known capacity, and the overflow streams of some could 
be measured by means of floats. The yield of two or three large 
springs whose water is bottled and sold was learned from the owners. 

In the following table spring No. 30 in Bristol and spring No. 61 
in New Hartford are groups of springs rather than individual springs. 
The remaining 32 springs have an average yield of nearly^ gallons a 
minute and range from a quarter of a gallon to 40 gallons. 

Yields of springs in Southington-Granby area. 



Town. 


No. on 

PI. ni. 


Yield 

(gallons per 

minute). 


Town. 


No. on 
PL in. 


Yield 

(gallons per 

minute). 


Avon 


22 

46 
59 
11 
30 
87 

121 
15 
26 
36 
17 
26 
84 
9 
82 

107 
3 


2 
2 
.5 
1 
100 
20 
1£ 
2.5 
5 
6 
.5 
.75 
40 
1 
1 

2.5 
30 


Hartland 


13 

42 

67 

125 

59 

61 

9 

4 

6 

36 

52 

35 

48 

52 

59 

79 

52 


3.33 


Do 


Harwinton 


.25 


Do 


Do 


30 


Barkhamsted 


Do 


2 


Bristol 


New Hartford 


1.5 


Do 


Do 


250 


Do 


Plymouth 


2 


BurMngton 


Prospect 


1 


Do 


Do 


4 


Do 


Do 


6 


Canton 


Do 


3.5 


Do 


Simsbury 


10 


Do 


Southington 


12.5 


Chesliire 


Do 


2 


Do 


Do 


10 


Do 


Do 


1 


Granby 


Wolcott 


1 









GROUND WATER FOR PUBLIC SUPPLY. 

Most of the pubhc supphes for cities and villages in New England 
are obtained by impounding streams, but a few come from wells or 
infiltration galleries. Supphes could be developed for many of the 
villages and smaller cities from bodies of stratified drift. 



56 GHOtrisrD WATEH llsT gOtrTHIl^rGTOi?-GRAHBY AREA, COHN. 

Most ground-water systems for pubKc supply comprise one or more 
batteries of driven wells, connected by suction mains to pumping 
plants which discharge into small reservoirs. A few plants, however, 
use dug wells or infiltration galleries. Geologic conditions in New 
England do not afford adequate artesian supplies, as in some other 
parts of the country. The driven wells are similar to those described 
under '' Recovery of ground water" (p. 51), except that they are 
generally greater in diameter than domestic wells. They are so 
located that they will draw from as great an area as possible with the 
least amount of piping in consideration of the difference in the abun- 
dance of the supply throughout the field. If the direction of the under- 
flow is known the lines of wells are placed at right angles to it in 
order that the maximmn yield may be intercepted without inter- 
ference among the wells. 

In selecting a suitable place for a battery of weUs it is more im- 
portant to consider its topography and the character of the soil than 
to consider convenience in geographic situation or the apparent 
wetness of the soil. Sandy or gravelly plains of stratified drift or 
alluvium, especially those near lakes or streams, are promising places 
even though the surface may be rather dry. Wet grounds as a rule 
indicate the presence underground of an impervious layer that would 
prevent a large flow of water to driven wells. Glacial outwash 
plains and the flood plains of rivers should be thoroughly studied. 
Several tests weUs should be sunk and should be vigorously pumped 
in order to determine the water-bearing capacity of the soil at different 
points and depths. The pumping should be as heavy and as long 
continued as practicable, in order that any deterioration in the 
quahty or decrease in the quantity of the water may be detected. 
Analyses of samples collected at intervals and measurements of the 
yield should be made. The static level in open wells near the test 
weUs should be observed before, during, and after pumping tests for 
the purpose of ascertaining the amount and extent of drawdown of 
the water table and its rate of recovery. 

The source of the water may be rainfall on an adjacent area or 
underflow from some body of water or both. Water from a body of 
surface water is greatly improved in quality by passing slowly through 
a great mass of soil. Water derived chiefly from the absorption of 
rainfall by the soil has a temperature of 48° to 52° F., which is the 
general temperature of the earth below the depth of diurnal variation. 
Surface waters are much warmer in summer and colder in winter, so 
that a wide range of temperature in the driven-well water would 
indicate it to be of surface origin. 

The experience at many plants at which ground water is pumped 
into open reservoirs is that there is likely to be a heavy growth of 
algae, even more than where surface waters are thus stored Hoofing 



GROUND WATER FOR PUBLIC SUPPLY. 57 

the reservoirs is found to reduce or eliminate algal growths, for they 
thrive only in abundant light and air. Roofed reservoirs also keep 
the temperature more nearly uniform. As roofing is expensive, how- 
ever, it is the usual practice to have much smaller storage for ground 
supplies than for surface supplies and to depend on the pumps to 
keep pace with the fluctuations in consmnption. 

An excessive amount of carbon dioxide, iron, ormanganese in some 
supplies has been troublesome. Carbon dioxide gave a good deal of 
trouble at the plant at Lowell, Mass.,^* for a time, and experiments 
were made to find a remedy. It was found that spraying the water 
under low pressure from small nozzles would aerate it and thus 
eUminate the gas. By another set of experiments, conducted at the 
same time, for the removal of iron and manganese, which had increased 
in amount as the draft on the supply became heavier, the conclusion 
was reached that '^the iron and manganese can be successfully and 
economically removed by limited aeration, passage through a coke 
prefilter not less than 8 feet in depth, operated as a contact bed at a 
rate of 76.5 milHon gallons per acre daily, and subsequent filtration 
throMgh sand at a rate of 10 milHon gallons per acre daily.'' The 
rate of filtration and the details of construction of the filter beds 
would be somewhat different with waters of different content of 
carbon dioxide, iron, and manganese. 

One of the largest water supplies in New England derived from 
wells has been developed at Lowell, Mass. Lowell's first water- 
works, built in 1870, comprised a filter gallery 1,300 feet long 
parallel to and 100 feet distant from Merrimack River, from which 
water was pumped to a distributing reservoir. The supply was 
about 900,000 gallons a day (1875), and as the daily consumption 
became greater a supplementary supply was pmnped direct from 
the river and passed through a sand filter. An epidemic of typhoid 
fever in 1890 and 1891 necessitated a better supply. Test weUs were 
driven at various places near the city, and finally a contract was 
awarded to the Cook Well Co. for a 5,000,000-gallon supply to be 
obtained by driven wells along River Meadow Brook. Forty-five 
6-inch weUs of the open-end type, 47 to 67 feet deep, Vs^ere sunk by 
sand pumps and at first yielded 7,000,000 gallons a day but soon fell 
off to only 2,000,000 gallons. Fifteen 4-inch wells were added and 
increased the yield to 3,000,000 gallons, but the contractors con- 
sidered it impossible to get 5,000,000 gallons and abandoned their 
contract. In 1894 the Hydraulic Construction Co. of New York sunk 
by the jetting method 120 open-end 2-inch wells a mile upstream 
from the old wells. As the total yield from both well fields was less 
than 5,000,000 gallons a day it was necessary to pump river water to 

^^ Barbour, F. H., Improvement of the water supply of the city of Lowell, a special report to the 
municipal council, 1914. 



58 GROUND WATER IN SOtJTHlNGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

supply 7,000,000 gallons a day in 1895. In 1895 B. F. Smith & Co. 
drove 169 successful wells 27 to 40 feet deep at a third locality 150 to 
350 feet from Merrimack River. The daily yield from this area, 
known as the Lower Boulevard Field, was about 4,000,000 gallons. 

Excessive corrosion of lead pipes in the city developed in 1899, and 
the State board of health attributed it to the high content of carbon 
dioxide in the water from the Cook wells. Consequently the Cook 
field and the field a mile upstream on River Meadow Brook were 
abandoned in 1900. Fifty-two wells driven in 1900 and 125 driven 
in 1901 supply the Upper Boulevard station. The system was ade- 
quate for the demand in 1902 and 1903, but the supply began to de- 
crease, and from 1904 to 1911 it was found necessary to use the Cook 
wells. A deterioration in quality due to overdraft was coincident 
with the decrease in supply. In 1911 118 new wells were added in the 
Boulevard field, so that there were then 450 wells available in this area, 
exclusive of a few that had been abandoned. The addition of these 
wells counteracted the overdraft, and for several years the supply was 
satisfactory. 

The wells that have been sunk since 1900 are of the closed-end type. 
They are lined with 2J-inch extra heavy iron pipe with a bottom sec- 
tion 38 inches long in which are bored 180 half -inch holes. A heavy 
brass wire wound spirally around the pipe separates it from a brass 
screen with vertical slots, 20 to the inch horizontally and 6 to the 
inch vertically. The bottom is screwed into a cast-iron driving 
point 4J inches in diameter that protects the strainer from abrasion. 
The wells are driven with a heavy drop hammer. As the soil in 
which the wells are driven is fine grained the wells have to be cleaned 
at intervals. Each casing is capped at the surface, and a connection 
with the suction main is made below the cap through a T. In general 
the wells are staggered 12 feet apart on alternate sides of the suction 
main and 4 feet away from it. 

That the water comes in large part from the river is shown by the 
seasonal range of temperature from 45° to 65° F., which is more 
pronounced than that of true ground water. The deterioration upon 
overdraft is presumably due to the fact that the water is then re- 
tained a shorter time in the soil and consequently loses less of its 
impurities.^® 

QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

ANALYSES AND ASSAYS. 

The chemical studies made in connection with this report comprise 
50 assays and 31 analyses by S. C. Dinsmore, 4 analyses by Alfred A. 
Chambers, and 3 analyses made by other chemists and furnished by 
owners of wells and springs. The quantities are reported in parts per 
million. The results are given under the several towns. 

28 Thomas, R. J., The Lowell waterworks and some recent improvements: New England Waterworks 
Assoc. Jour., vol. 27, March, 1913. 



QUALITY OP GROUND WATER. 59 

CONSTITUENTS DETERMINED BY ANALYSIS. 

In the analyses by Mr. Dinsmore the following constituents were 
determined: Silica (SiOj), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), 
carbonate radicle (CO3), bicarbonate radicle (HCO3), sulphate radicle 
(SO4), chloride radicle (CI), nitrate radicle (NO3), and total dissolved 
solids. In the analyses by Mr. Chambers the same constituents and 
also sodium and potassium together (Na + K) were determined. In 
the assays the following constituents were determined: Iron (Fe), 
carbonate radicle (CO3), bicarbonate radicle (HCO3), sulphate radicle 
(SO4), chloride radicle (CI), and total hardness as CaC03. 

VALUES COMPUTED. 

In the analyses by Mr. Dinsmore the following quantities were 
computed: Sodium and potassium (Na + K), total hardness as CaCOg, 
scale-forming ingredients, foaming ingredients, and the coefficient 
of corrosion. The computation of sodium and potassium was made 
by calculating the sum of the reacting values of the acid radicles 
(CO3, HCO3, SO4, CI, and NO3) and subtracting from it the sum of 
the reacting values of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) . The re- 
acting value of a constituent is its capacity to enter into chemical 
combinations and is equal to the amount of it present multiplied by 
its valence and divided by its molecular weight. The excess of the 
acid radicles is considered to be chemically equivalent to the sodium 
and potassium. They are computed on the hypothesis that only 
sodium was present, by dividing the difference between the reacting 
values of the acids and bases by the reacting value of sodium. The 
result is reported as parts per million of sodimn and potassium. 

Total hardness was computed in the conventional terms of calcium 
carbonate by the following formula given by Dole: 



30 



H = 2.5Ca + 4.1 Mg 

The computations of the scale-forming constituents, and the 
foaming constituents, and of the coefficient upon which the proba- 
bility of corrosion is based, were made according to the following 
formulas by Dole : ^^ 

Scale-forming constituents = Sm + Cm+2.95 Ca+ 1.66 Mg. 

Foaming constituents = 2.7 Na. 

Coefficient of corrosion = 0.0821 Mg- 0.0333 CO3- 0.0164 HCO3. 

The symbols Sm and Cm represent the suspended matter and col- 
loidal matter in parts per million. 

30 Mendenhall, W. C, Dole, R. B., and Stabler, Herman, Ground water in San Joaquin Valley, Calif.: 
U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 398, p. 45, 1916. 

31 Idem, p. 65. 



60 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

In the assays the same values were computed, except the total 
hardness, which was determined ; and in addition the values of total 
solids were computed. The following formula by Dole^^ was used to 
compute the sodium (Na) equivalent to the sodium and potassium 
taken together: 

Na = 0.83 CO3 + O.4I HCO3 + O.7I 01 + 0.52 SO4-O.5 H 

The symbols represent the parts per million of computed sodium 
and of carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, sulphate, and total hardness 
found by the assay. 

The total solids were computed by the following approximate 
formula of Dole: ^^ 

T. S. = Si02+1.73 CO3 + O.86 HCO3+I.48 SO4+I.62 CI 

The symbols represent the parts per million of silica and the car- 
bonate, bicarbonate, sulphate, and chloride radicles. In applying this 
formula to the assays it was necessary to set some arbitrary value for 
silica. Inasmuch as the average silica content in the analyses of 
ground waters from the Southington-Granby area was 13 parts per 
million, 15 parts per million was taken as the arbitrary value for 
silica. The estimate of solids is rough and is reported to the nearest 
10 if above 100 parts per million and to the nearest 5 if below 100. 

The value representing scale-forming constituents was computed 
according to an approximate formula by Dole: ^* 

Scale-forming constituents = Cm + H 

The symbols represent the parts per million of colloidal matter and 
of total hardness in terms of CaCOg. Inasmuch as the colloidal 
matter is' essentially the same as the sum of silica and iron, the 
equation has been used in the equivalent form 

Scale-forming constituents = SiOj + Fe + H 

The value of silica was taken arbitrarily as 15 parts per million, as in 
the computation of total solids. The ratio between calcium and 
magnesium is an unknown and variable one and introduces a further 
error. The results are reported to the nearest 10 if above 100, and 
to the nearest 5 if below 100. 

The same formula was used for computing foaming ingredients 
in the assays as in the analyses. 

82 Mcndenhall, W. C, Dole, R. B., and Stabler, Herman, Ground water in San Joaquin Valley, Calif.: 
U.S. Gool. Survey Water-Supply Paper 398, p. 57, 1916. 
S3 Idem, p. 81. 
8* Idem, p. 66. 



QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 61 

ACCURACY OF ANALYSES AND ASSAYS. 

The analyses in this report were all made substantially according 
to the methods outlined by Dole,^^ who gives also a discussion of 
accuracy of methods and results based on both theoretical and prac- 
tical considerations. Assays were made as described by Leigh ton,^^* 
except for the use of solutions instead of solid reagents. The results 
obtained in assays are not all as accurate as the corresponding values 
obtained in analyses, but it has been shown ^^ that the classification of 
a water for domestic or boiler use or for irrigation is nearly always the 
same, whether based on an analysis or an assay. 

CHEMICAL CHARACTER OF WATER. 

The statement in the analytical tables under the heading '^Chemical 
character" shows the predominating basic and acid radicles. Bicar- 
bonate, HCO3, does not appear because for this classification it has 
been united with the carbonate and the two reported together as CO3. 

INTERPRETATION OF ANALYSES AND ASSAYS. 

In addition to the chemical interpretation discussed in the preced- 
ing section, the analyses and assays have been interpreted as regards 
their suitability for boiler and domestic use. 

WATER FOR BOILER USE. 

Three kinds of trouble in boilers — the formation of scale, foaming, 
and corrosion — are due to the nature and quality of the salt^in solu- 
tion in the water. Scale formation is due to the deposition of min- 
eral matter within the boiler as a result of heating under pressure and 
of evaporation. These deposits increase the fuel consumption, as 
they are bad conductors of heat, and they also decrease the capacity 
of the boiler. They are a source of expense and a potential cause of 
explosions. Scale is formed of the substances in the feed water that 
are insoluble or become so under the usual conditions of boiler opera- 
tion. It includes all the suspended matter, the silica, iron, alirnoi- 
num, calcium (principally as carbonate and sulphate), and magne- 
sium (principally as oxide but also as carbonate). 

Foaming is the formation of bubbles upon and above the surface 
of the water, and it is intimately connected with priming, which is 
the passage of water mixed with steam from the boiler. Foaming is 
believed to be due principally to sodium and potassium which remain 

35 Dole, R. B., The quality of surfeice waters in the United States, Part I: U. S. Geol. Survey Water- 
Supply Paper 236, pp. 9-23, 28-39, 1909. 

35a Leighton, M. O., Field assay of water: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 151, 1905. 

3« Mendenhall, W. C, and others, Ground water in San Joaquin Valley, Calif.: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 398, pp. 43-50, 1916. 



62 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

in solution after most of the other bases are precipitated as scale and 
which increase the surface tension of the water. The increased sur- 
face tension tends to prevent the steam bubbles from bursting and 
escaping. Other factors undoubtedly affect or cause foaming, but 
sodium and potassium are the chief causes. The principal ill effects 
of foaming are that the water carried over may injure the engine and 
that it may cause violent and dangerous boiling. Where waters that 
foam badly are used it is necessary to "blow off" the water at fre- 
quent intervals. 

Corrosion, or "pitting," is caused chiefly by the solvent action of 
acids on the boiler iron. Many acids have this effect, but the chief 
ones are those freed by the deposition of hydrates cof iron, aluminum, 
and especially of magnesium. The acid radicles that were in equi- 
librium with these substances may pass into equilibrium with other 
bases, thus setting free equivalent quantities of CO3 and HCO3; or 
they may decompose carbonates and bicarbonates that have been 
deposited as scale; or they may combine with the iron of the boiler 
shell, thus causing corrosion; or they may do all three of these things. 
Even with the most complete analysis this action can be predicted 
only as a probability. If the acid thus freed exceeds the amount re- 
quired to decompose the carbonates and bicarbonates it corrodes the 
iron. The danger from corrosion obviously lies in the weakening of 
the boiler, which may result in explosion. 

The formula for the corrosive tendency ^^ used in computations 
based on the analyses expresses the relation between the reacting 
values «rf magnesium and the radicles involving carbonic acid. If 
the coefl5.cient of corrosion (c) is positive the water is corrosive. If 
cH- 0.0499 Ca (the reacting value of calcium) is negative the mineral 
constituents will not cause corrosion. If c + 0.0499 Ca is positive 
corrosion is uncertain. These three conditions are indicated by the 
symbols C, N, and (?), respectively. 

In working with the assays it is necessary to restate these con- 
ditions, as the amounts of magnesium and calcium are unknown. 
One-fiftieth of the total hardness is equivalent to the reacting value 
of calcium and magnesium, and H divided by 230 (0.004 H) is equiv- 
alent to the reacting value of magnesium on the assumption that 
Ca = 6 Mg, a ratio in which magnesiiun is given its smallest probable 
value in relation to calciiun. The reacting values of carbonate and 
bicarbonate are represented, respectively, by 0.033 CO3 and 
0.016 HCO3, ^^^ coefficients being the ratio of the valence of each 
radicle to its molecular weight. The following propositions result: 

If 0.033 CO3 + 0.016 HCO3^0.02 H, then the water will not cause 
corrosion. 

37 Mendenhall, W. C, and others, op. cit., p. 66. 



QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 



63 



If 0.033 CO3 + O.OI6 HCO3<0.004 H, then the water is corrosive. 

If 0.033 CO3 + 0.016 HCO3 < 0.02 H but > 0.004 H, then corrosion is 
uncertain. 

Scale formation, foaming, and corrosion are the principal criteria 
in rating waters for boiler use, but their evaluation is a matter of 
personal experience and judgment. The committee on water service 
of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Asso- 
ciation has offered two classifications by which waters in their raw 
state may be approximately rated, but, as its report states, ''It is 
difficult to define by analysis sharply the lines between good and bad 
water for steam-making purposes.'' The committee's table, which 
is given below with the amounts changed to parts per miUion, was 
used in rating the waters for this report. In every case the less 
favorable of the two ratings was given. 

Ratings of water for boiler use according to proportions of incrusiing and corroding conr 
stituents and according to foaming constituents. 



Incrusting and corroding con- 
stituents. 


Foaming constituents. 


Parts per million. 


Classifl- 
cation.a 


Parts per million. 


Classifi- 
cation. 6 


More 
than — 


Not more 
than— 


More 
than — 


Not more 
than — 




90 
200 
430 


Good. 
Fair. 
Poor. 
Bad. 




150 
250 
400 


Good. 
Fair. 
Bad. 
Very bad. 


90 
200 
430 


150 
250 
400 







o Am. Ry. Eng. and Maintenance of Way Assoc. Proc, vol. 5, p. 595, 1904. 
b Idem, vol. 9, p. 134, 1908. 

WATER FOR DOMESTIC USE. 

Waters which do not exceed 200 parts per million hardness and 
which are sufficiently low in mineral matter to be palatable are satis- 
factory for drinking and cooking. Although waters high in harden- 
ing constituents can be used for drinking purposes they are unsatis- 
factory for cooking and laundering. Hardness exceeding 1,500 parts 
per million makes water undesirable for cooking and water much softer 
than that consumes excessive quantities of soap in washing. Ap- 
proximately 200 parts per million of carbonate, 250 parts of chloride, 
and 300 parts of sulphate can be detected by taste. The amounts 
of these constituents which can be tolerated by a human being are 
considerably higher than the above, but waters exceeding 300 parts 
per million of carbonate, 1,500 parts of chloride, or 2,000 parts of 
sulphate are apparently intolerable to most people. It must be 
pointed out, however, that local conditions and individual preference 
largely determine the significance of the terms ''good" or "bad" as 
applied to the mineral quality of water for domestic use. 



64 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

CONTAMINATION. 

Water supplies may become contaminated in various ways, 
chiefly by industrial and manufacturing wastes, by the washing in 
of surface water, or by sewage. Industrial wastes rarely pollute 
ground-water supplies, and sea water, which along coasts is a source 
of contamination, need not be considered in this report, because of its 
nonexistence in the Southington-Granby area. Sewage is a very 
serious danger and is of various sorts, including animal excreta, 
human excreta, and kitchen wastes. Wells should never be con- 
structed where there is any possibHity of underflow from barnyards, 
privies, or kitchen drains. No spring that is thus wrongly situated 
should be used. No barnyard, privy, or kitchen drain should be built 
where it might pollute a well or spring. No rule can be laid down 
as to the direction of flow of the ground water, but it is generally the 
same as the direction of slope of the surface of the ground. 

In addition to making safe the location of a well or spring, pre- 
cautions should be taken to prevent the entrance of surface wash. 
The ground around dug wells should be filled in enough to make rain 
water and drippings flow away from them and not back into them. 
An excellent construction is a concrete apron several feet wide on 
all sides, and sloping away from the well. Cattle should be kept 
away from wells and springs by a fence, and they should be watered 
at a trough some distance away. Drilled wells should have the iron 
casing set firmly into the bedrock to prevent entrance of shallow 
water, and the casing should extend at least a foot above ground to 
keep out surface wash. 

TABULATIONS. 

The results of the analyses and assays and the results of the compu- 
tations based on them are tabulated by towns. Tables of analyses 
and assays comparing the waters from the various water-beariQg 
formations are given on page 65. Within each table the data have 
been grouped according to the formation ia which the waters occur, 
and the average amounts of each constituent are reported together 
with the number of analyses or assays used. 

The group of analyses headed '^ schist^' comprises only waters 
from schists, but the group of assays with the same heading includes 
one sample from gneiss and one from granite gneiss. The analysis 
of water from well No. 86, in Plymouth, was omitted, as it is abnor- 
mally high in chloride and in sodium and potassium. The analysis of 
water from well No. 69, in Harwinton, and the assay of water from 
well No. 14, in Hartland, were also omitted from the tables of averages 
because they are abnormally high in total solids and ia almost every 
constituent. 

A study of the table of averages of analyses shows that the schist 
waters are in general the best, and that the till and stratified-drift 



QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 



65 



waters are both of nearly as great excellence. The sandstone waters 
run comparatively high in iron, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate 
radicle, total hardness, and scale-forming ingredients. 

The table of averages of assays corroborates that of analyses, 
except that it indicates no great difference in quality between sand- 
stone waters and stratified-drift waters. Although the former con- 
tain less total dissolved solids, constituents that are significant in 
economic interpretation are present in greater amounts than in the 
stratified-dfift waters. 

Averages of groups of analyses of waters from the water-bearing formations of the 

Southington-Granhy area. 

[Parts per million except as otherwise designated.] 



Formation. 


O 


1— t 


O 




Sodium and 
potassium 
(Na+K). 


9 

1-1 ^-N 

o © 

a 


ohri 


C3C0 
CO 


o 


® 

1 

o 


-s 


O 
o 

EH 


bo 

h 


o 

-t-3 

to® 

H '+3 

§"= 

o 


as 


Schist 


14 
14 
14 
13 


0.51 
.71 
.17 
.12 


7.9 
29 
12 
12 


2.2 
4.6 
3.3 
3.3 


6.0 
12 

5,2 
10 


0.0 
.0 
.0 
.0 


30 

77 
36 
41 


5.1 
21 
7.0 
8.9 


4.8 
8.9 
7.0 
9.6 


4.5 
18 

8.9 
12 


62 

144 

74 

87 


29 
90 
.42 
44 


42 

104 

53 

55 


16 
32 
14 
27 


4 


Sandstone 


5 


Till 


17 


Stratified drift 


in 







Averages of groups of assays of waters from the water-hearing formations of the 

Southington-Granhy area. 

[Parts per million except as otherwise designated.] 



Formation. 



Schist 

Sandstone 

Till 

Stratified drift 



f^ 



0.12 
.09 
.20 
.05 






©o 

o <» 

(-1 

C3 



.2^ 



45 
«2 
52 

84 



03t/2 



ego 



55 t^ 



68 
105 

86 
121 



'So 

cSO 

o 

1^ 



40 
65 
42 

48 



bJO 

« '^ 



bo© 

i=i5 



Ph 



10 
27 
30 
66 



C3i^ 

<o 

■" bO 
O C3 

i~, © 

© t» 



6 

7 

21 

14 



TEMPERATURE OF GROUND WATER. 

The temperature of ground water depends on and tends to become 
the same as that of the material through which it circulates. A layer 
a few inches thick at the top of the ground varies greatly in temper- 
ature every 24 hours, owing to the heating effect of the sun in the 
daytime and the radiation of heat at night. At a moderate depth 
these diurnal variations become negligible and only seasonal fluctu- 
ations of temperature occur. At a still greater depth there are not 
even seasonal fluctuations and the temperature is uniform the year 
around. The depth of this zone of no seasonal fluctuation is believed 
187118°— 21— wsp 466 5 



66 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



to be 50 or 60 feet. Its temperature tends to, be the same as the 
mean annual temperature of the locality, and this ranges from 46° 
at Cream Hill, in Cornwall, to 49.5° at New Haren.^^ In the South- 
ington-Granby area it probably averages about 47° F. Springs 
whose waters have moved a considerable distance at such depth have 
this temperature the year around, but if the circulation has been in 
large part in the zone of seasonal fluctuation the water will be 
warmer in summer and colder in winter. It seems probable that 
springs on steep north slopes, where the heating effect of the sun is 
at a minimum, would be a little cooler than normal, and springs on 
south slopes, where the sun's effect is at a maximum, would be a 
little warmer. The actual temperature of the water is, perhaps, not 
so good a criterion for determining the depth at which water has 
circulated as the uniformity of temperature throughout the year. 
Most of the dug wells and springs in the area are supplied from mod- 
erate depths and show seasonal fluctuations of temperature. Below 
a depth of 50 or 60 feet the temperature increases, owing to the inter- 
nal heat of the earth. The increase is about 1° F. for every 60 feet 
increase in depth, so that water from deep drilled wells is likely to 
be warmer than 47° F. 

DETAHJED DESCRIPTIONS OF TOWNS. 

AVON. 
AREA, POPULATIOX, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Avon is in Hartford County, about 16 miles south of the Massa- 
chusetts boundary, and has an area of about 23 square miles, one- 
half of which is wooded. The town is bounded on the west by the 
southward reach of Farmington River between Collinsville and 
Unionville, and on the east by the crest of Talcott Mountain. In 
1830 this area was taken from the town of Farmington and incor- 
porated as a separate town under its present name. Its population 
in 1910 was 1,337. The following table shows that up to 1870 the 
population of the to^Am fluctuated to a slight extent, but that since 
then it has increased steadily. 

Population of Avon, 1830-1910 a 



Year. 


Poptilation. 


i Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1830 '. 


1,025 

1,001 

995 


1860. 


1,059 

987 
1,057 


1890 


1 182 


1840 


1870. 


1900. 


1 302 


1850 


1880. 


1910. 


1,337 











a Coimecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 652. 

The population is centered at three points. The chief center is at 
Avon, in the northeast comer of the town, on the northward-flowing 

38 Summaries of climatological data by sections: XJ. S. Dept. Agr. Weather Bureau BuLL W, p. 2, sec.- 
105, p. 11, 1912. 



AVON. 



67 



reach of Fanuington River and on' the Northampton division (Canal 
Road) of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. West 
Avon, near the center of the town, is a smaller village, and in the 
valley of Roaring Brook is a concentration of houses known locally 
as Lovely Street. There are about 50 miles of roads in the town, of 
which about 7 miles are metaled State trunk lines comiecting with 
Hartford, Simsbury, Canton, and Collinsville. Most of the other 
roads are of excellent dirt construction, but some that cross the 
sand}' parts of the town are poor. The principal industries are 
agriculture, including no specialized crop except tobacco, and the 
manufacture of safety blasting fuse. 



SURFACE FEATURES. 



Avon includes portions of three valleys and of three ranges of hills. 
The highest point is on the crest of Talcott Mountain at the north 




Vertical scale twice the horizontal 
EXPLANATION 



MM 



Stratified 
drift 



Till 



Sandstone 

FiGTTRE 18. — Section across Avon. 



Intrusive 
trap 



Extrusive 
trap 



Granite 



boundary and is 940 feet above sea level, and the lowest is where 
Farmington River crosses the north boundary, at 140 feet above 
sea level. The highest and lowest points are l^ss than a mile apart. 
The profile and structure section reproduced in figure 18 show the 
topographic and geologic features of Avon. (See also section D-D' ^ 

PL n.) 

The cr^st of Talcott Mountain is 600 feet above sea level at the 
south boundary of Avon and rises gradually northward to its maxi- 
mum but is broken by three shallow gaps. The mountain has a 
steep western face, with trap cliffs at the top. South of the so-called 
Talcott Mountain Road from Avon to West Hartford, the cliffs are 
formed by the ^'Anterior" trap sheet, and east of the brow the 
''Main" sheet forms a small cliff. This is unusual, as in general the 
prominent cliffs are formed by the "Main" sheet, and the edge of 
the "Anterior" sheet is buried beneath the talus below the cliff. 
North of the Talcott Mountain Road the normal relations prevail, 
the "Main" sheet forms the cliff, and the "Anterior" sheet is con- 
cealed. 



68 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

A northward reach of Farmington River flows past the west foot of 
Talcott Mountain. It receives three or four small brooks from the 
mountain and two fair-sized and two small brooks from the west. 
The largest of these is Nod Brook, which supplies the reservoir of the 
Avon Water Co. and flows through the village of Avon. 

West of Farmington River is a sandy plain 2 miles wide, which 
undulates gently between altitudes of 200 and 840 feet above sea 
level. It is a glacial outwash plain which has been dissected by 
postglacial stream erosion. At West Avon there is a kettle hole, a 
nearty circular depression in the stratified drift, formed by the melting 
of a stranded and partly buried block of glacial ice. Between the 
outwash plain and Farmington River is a flood plain with a maxi- 
mum width of half "a mile. It is on this flood plain that most of the 
tobacco is grown. 

West of the outwash plain is a double line of hills, the northern- 
most point of which is Pond Ledge Hill, 600 feet above sea level. 
Extenduig tlu'ough these hills and outcroppuig at several places is 
an intrusive sheet of trap rock. By its resistance to erosion the trap 
sheet has enabled these hills to contmue in existence. On Pond 
Ledge Hill the trap stands up with a steep eastern face 20 to 50 feet 
high and a steep western face that is partly a clift'. On the eastern 
face are many horizontal scratches and grooves made by rock frag- 
ments in the ice sheet as it moved down the valley 

West of Pond Ledge Hill is the valley of Roaring Brook, which 
flows southwai'd and joms Fai*niington River at LTnionviUe. In 
July, 1915, its flow was estimated at 5 second-feet. This A^alley is 
approximately the bomidary between the Triassic rocks and the 
crystalline rocks. As the lowest of the Triassic rocks are more easily 
eroded than the granite gneiss or the trap they have been cut away 
to form the valley. About three-quiU'ters of a mile north of the south 
bomidaiy of the towai is an esker which extends across the whole 
width of the valley. , It beai's east-northeast, is a quai'ter of a mile 
long and 20 to 25 feet high, and is cut at the middle by Roarmg Brook. 

Between Roaring Brook and Fai'nmigton River, on the west, is 
Huckleberry Hill. At the north boundaiy of the to^vn this hill is 
680 feet above sea level, but toward the south it is lower. Its promi- 
nence is due to its being imderlain by resistant granite gneiss. Flow- 
mg down its south slope is an mniamed brook tributaiy to Fai'miiigton 
River which m July, 1915, flowed a scant second-foot. This brook 
suppbes the reservou's of the Union ville Water Co. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

The prhicipal water-bearmg formations in Avon are the till imd 
stratified drift. No wells, except a few ui trap, were fomid which 
drew water from the consolidated rocks. 



AVON. 69 

Tray rock. — On the crest of Talcott Moiuitaiii are a number of 
cottages and more pretentious summer residejices that are suj)plied 
by springs and drilled wells. One residence has an extensive system 
in which water from a ponded brook fed by springs is ])unip(»(l into a 
standpipe. Mr. R. T. H. Barnes's well (No. 60, PI. Ill) draws its 
water from lissm'es in the ''Anterior" trap sheet. As the well is only 
about 300 feet back from the cliff it is remarkable that it should reach 
a fissure bearbig a de])eiidable supply withui 98 feet. Were the rock 
very thoroughly fissured the water would rim out at the cdiff face hi 
sprhigs. The tra]) rocks of Pond Ledge Hill have not been used as a 
source of supply. 

Red sandstone, — The Triassic red sandstone, so far as information 
was obtained, is not used as a source of supply anywhere in tlie town 
of Avon. This rock underlies all of the area between the trap cliffs 
of Talcott Momitahi and Koaring Brook excej)t the traj) anms in 
Pond Ledge Hill and its southward prolongation. In most ])laces m 
the outwash-plahi region the sandstone is dce])ly buried by stratified 
drift m which drilled wells obtaui good supplies. Wells Nos. 14 and 
49 (PL III) are 90 and 85 feet deep, respectively, aiid do jiot reach 
bedrock. Undoubtedly tlie saiidstone carries water in fissurc^s, but 
the water hi the stratified drift is more accessible^ and probably more 
abundant. Pond Ledge Hill has a sandstone and trap core covered 
by 10 to 80 feet of till. Water could probably be advantageously 
recovered from the sandstone but has not yet been utilized at any 
place. 

Granite and gneiss. — ^The rock core of Huckleberry Hill is a granitic 
mass which has been called tlie CoUiusville granite gneiss because it 
is well exposed hi Collinsville. Most of the rock is a granite, tliough 
there is considerable variation. ui the amount of mica, and some of it 
is gneissic. The transition from granite to gneiss is almost imper- 
ceptible. Johits and fissures (ixist in this rock as in the other crystal- 
line rocks of Connecticut, and some of them undoubtedly carry water 
that could be recovered by drilled wells. No such developments have 
been made, however. 

Till. — Till forms the surface material of Avon above an elevation of 
about 300 feet above sea level except the hill east of West Avon, 340 
feet in altitude, which consists entirely of stratified drift, and nu- 
merous areas of bedrock, the principal ones of which are shown on 
Plate II. The till, or ''hardpan" as it is locally called, was formed 
by the ice sheet which overrode this region, and is composed of vari- 
ous sorts of material hi particles of all sizes from fine rock flour to 
large boulders. These materials were scraped up and shoved along 
by the ice as it moved slowly southward and were deposited as a 
thoroughly heterogeneous mass, except locally where a part was 
washed and sorted by running water. In Avon many dug wells ob- 
taui reliable supplies from the dense till, but a few of the most copious 



70 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHIKGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

supplies come from the more porous, partly washed till. The failing 
of wells in till is an unavoidable trouble, but deepening may be bene- 
ficial, particularly if a porous zone is reached. It is generally inad- 
visable to deepen by blasting a well that already is dug to bedrock, 
for although a water-bearing fissure may thus be cut this process is 
more uncertain and more expensive than drilling would be. 

In 17 till wells measured in Avon the £i,verage depth to the water 
table was 15.6 feet, the maximum 35.2 feet, and the minimum 2.3 
feet. The greatest fluctuation of water level was observed in well 
No. 19 (PL III), which contained 10.7 feet of water at the time it was 
measured (July 7, 1915), but was reported to fail in prolonged 
droughts. The fluctuation of well No. 3 is presumably not very 
great, for it had only 3.1 feet of water on July 8, 1915, when the 
water table was rather high, and it is said never to fail. 

Stratified drift. — Stratified drift underlies the broad plain in eastern 
Avon and the floor of Roaring Brook vaUey. Patches of it lie on the 
lower western slopes of Huckleberry Hill, and one patch that forms 
an esker and a small kame area lies on the crest of the ridge south- 
southeast of Huckleberry HiU. The deposits of stratified drift on 
the western slopes of Huckleberry Hill are in part recent terraces of 
Farmington River, flat-topped, and 15 to 20 feet above the water 
level, and in part older terraces plastered against the hiUside as 
much as 50 feet above the water level. The kames and eskers are 
of interest in that they indicate a halt in the retreat of the ice sheet, 
but they are of little consequence as sources of water, as they are of 
slight areal extent and are situated on slopes where any water they 
receive drains quickly away. 

The sand and gravel of the plain of eastern Avon were washed 
from the front of the receding ice sheet. The finest materials were 
mostly carried away, so that the deposits are clean and very porous. 
These extensive deposits are the best water-bearing beds in the 
town and would no doubt yield large quantities of water to bored or 
driven wells. A large part of the rain faUing on the plain percolates 
downward to the water table or surface below which the deposit is 
saturated with water. The depth to the water table varies with the 
amount of rain and also from place to place. In general it is least 
in valleys and near streams and greatest on the divides. 

In 34 dug wells in stratified drift in the town of Avon the average 
depth to the water table was 17.1 feet, and the maximum was 49.3 
feet in weU No. 12 (PL III). The greatest indicated fluctuation of 
the water level was in weU No. 28, which fails in dry seasons, though 
it contained 4.7 feet of water in October, 1915. The minimum fluctu- 
ation indicated was in well No. 48, which is said not to fail but which 
had only 1.3 feet of water in July, 1915, when the water table was 
high. In general the fluctuation is less in wells in stratified drift 
than in till wells. 



AVON. 



71 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Avon. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
posi- 
tion. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Slope 

...do 


Feet. 
430 
350 
340 
550 

515 
490 
480 
360 
370 
295 
320 
350 
400 
365 
270 
215 
650 


Feet. 

22.1 

9.1 

5.4 
26.3 

23.2 
17.0 
10.9 
22.1 
16.6 
39.7 
18.8 
27.4 
18.1 
12.2 
39.5 
24.4 
11.5 


Feet. 

21.7 
4.3 
2.3 

19.3 

16.7 
15.7 

4.5 
17.4 
12.4 
35.2 
17.4 
16.7 

7.4 

6.4 
33.2 
22.4 

2.5 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 


Fails. 


2 




Unfailing. 


3 




..do 


Do. 


4 




...do 


Windlass rig 


Fails. Mostly 

through rock. 
Unfailing. 

Fails. 


5 




Hilltop.. 
Slope.... 
...do 


do 


6 




do 


7 




Chain pump 

do 


Unfailing. 


8 




..do 


Fails. 


10 




...do 




Do. 


11 
17 




...do 

...do 


Windlass rig 

do 


Do. 
Do. 


19 




...do 


House pump 

do 


Do. 


20 




HiUtop.. 
Slope.... 
...do 




21 




Deep-well pump 

Windlass rig 

do 


Unfailing. 


57 




Fails. 


58 
61 


B.J.Miller 


...do 

Swale... 


For assay see p. 72. 
Fails; overflows in 








wet seasons. 



Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Avon. 



24 
25 

26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 

37 

38 
39 
40 
42 
43 
44 
45 
47 
48 
50 

51 
52 
53 
55 
56 



J.C. Thompson.. 



Mrs.C.C.Wheeler 



Slope.. 



.do. 
.do. 



...do.. 
...do.. 
Plain. 



SloTie.. 
Plain.. 

...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
Swale. 
Plain.. 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 



.do. 

.do. 
-do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 



...do.. 
...do.. 
Slope. 
...do.. 
...do.. 



Feet. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


275 


53.8 


49.3 


275 


7.6 


5.2 


285 


13.8 


10.0 


295 


17.1 


12.5 


305 


10.3 


6.8 


290 


22.1 


19.8 


320 


30.8 


30.0 


300 


18.3 


15.8 


305 


18.5 


15.5 


295 


21.9 


20.2 


270 


20.6 


15.9 


290 


21 


10 


325 




20 


235 


7.0 


5.2 


220 


10 


6 


205 


12.6 


8.4 


200 


20.9 


16.2 


195 


23.2 


21.4 


190 


23.8 


22.1 


190 


28.8 


25.7 


190 


26.0 


24.4 


190 


28.6. 


27.3 


170 


12.1 


9.3 


195 


23.5 


22.1 


190 


21.5 


18.5 


190 


12.9 


9.9 


210 


8.7 


4.7 


205 


13.3 


12.0 


155 


20.1 


19.6 


155 


24.9 


22.5 


180 


15.9 


12.4 


170 


24.8 


20.9 


195 


17.8 


12.7 


280 


33.2 


30.0 



Windlass rig . 



Windmill 

Windlass rig and 
pump in house. 

Windlass rig , 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig , 



.do. 
.do. 



Chain pump 

Deep-well pump 

House pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Deep-well pump 

do 



Windlass rig . 

do 

Chain pump. 



Windlass rig and 
house pump. 

Windlass rig.* 

do 

do 

Chain pump 

House pump 

Chain pump 

do 

do , 



Single-bucket rig . 

Windlass rig 

do 

do 



Unfailing; aban- 
doned. 
Tiled; unfailing. 
Fails; rock bottom. 

Unfailing. 
Do. 

Unfailing; fluctua- 
tion of water level 
slight. 

Tiled. 

Unfailing; aban- 
doned. 

Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 

Unfailing; abundant. 

Rock bottom. 

Unfailing. 

IMnch driven well. 

IJnfailing. 
Do. 

Unfailing: for assay 
see p. 72. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 



Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 
Unfailing; aban- 
doned. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 



72 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



Drilled wells in Avon. 



No. 
on 
PL 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Diam- 
eter 
of 
well. 


Yield 
per 

min- 
ute. 


Water- 
bearing 
forma- 
tion. 


Remarks. 


14 
41 

49 
60 


R.V.Green... 
FredDimock.. 

W.H. Strong.. 
R.T.H.Barnes 


Slope 

Terrace 
edge. 

Plain.... 
Hilltop.. 


Feet. 
285 

180 

150 
680 


Feet. 
90 

50 

85 
98 


Feet. 
90 

50 

(a) 
5 


Feet. 
20 

20 


In. 
6 

6 


Gals. 
10 

15 


Stratified 

drift. 
...do 

...do 

Trap 


Water enter s 
through screen 
at bottom of 
well; for analysis 
see below. 

For assay see be- 
low. 













a Does not reach bedrock. 



Springs in Avon. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. ' 


9 




Slope 


Ft. 
390 
275 
270 
227 
210 

580 


° F. 
49 

57' 

52" 

50 


Gals. 
""'d2 
2 

a5 




22 
31 


Rev. C. K. Flanders. . . 


At orookside. . 
...do 


Pump from house. 


46 




Slope 


54 


L. F. North 


At brookside . . 
Talus si ope 


Runs by gravity to house; for 

analysis see below. 
Roadside spring. 


59 









a Estimated. 



QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

In the following table are given the results of two analyses and 
three assays of samples of ground water collected in the town of 
Avon. The waters are low in mineral content and are of the calcium- 
carbonate type. All are soft and suitable for most uses. None will 
cause foaming or yield much scale in boilers. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Avon. 

[Parts per million; samples collected Nov. 24, 1915; S . C. Dinsmore, analyst . Numbers at head of columns 
refer to corresponding numbers on PI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 71-72.] 



Analyses.a 



41 



54 



Assays, b 



36 



49 



58 



Silica (SiOg) 

Iron (Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na-I-K)c. 

Carbonate radicle (CO3') 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Stilphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (01) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) — 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOa 

Scale-forming constituents c 

Foaming constituents c 



Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion d . 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use. . 



7.5 
.20 
23 
8.5 
1.0 
.0 
51 
26 
17 
2.0 
121 
c92 
90 
3 

Ca-C03 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



18 

.05 
16 
3.0 
1.4 
.0 
49 
9.0 
3.0 
2.0 
78 
a52 
70 
4 

Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 



Trace. 



Trace. 



0.75 



7 

71 
5 
6 



4 



85 

Trace. 

4 



5 


63 
5 
4 



c93 

57 
70 
20 

Car-COs 
N 

Good. 
Good. 



c95 

68 
85 
10 

Car-COs 
N 

Good. 
Good. 



c83 
52 
65 
10 

Ca-COs 
N 

Good. 
Good. 



o For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used in assays and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Computed. 

d Based on computed value; N=noncorrosive; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



BAKKHAMSTED. 73 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY. 



Since December, 1910, Avon has been supplied b}^ the Avon Water 
Co. Water from a reservoir on Nod Brook west of the village is 
dehvered bv gravity, through about a mile of main, to two hydrants 
and 52 service taps. About 175 of the 300 people in the village are 
supplied. Should it ever become necessary to increase the supply 
it could be done best by further development of the basin of Nod 
Brook, wliich is not yet fully utilized. The flows of several small, 
unused drainage basins on the flank of Talcott Mountain are so 
small that they would probably not warrant the investment necessary 
for utihzation unless the sanitary condition of Nod Brook made 
them pecuHarly valuable. Batteries of driven wells across the 
valley of any of the brooks entering Farmington River from the west 
would yield abundant supplies. 

Some of the tobacco planters along Farmington River have in- 
stalled small pumping plants which draw water from the river for 
use in their starting beds. Planters farther from the river could 
get water on rather low ground from properly constructed wells. 
Suggestions as to the best way of constructing such wells are given 
on pages 39-46. 

BARKHAMSTED. 

AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Barkhamsted is in the northeast corner of Litchfield County but 
is separated from Massachusetts by the town of Hartland, which is 
in Hartford County. The area of Barkhamsted is about 39 square 
miles, of which three-fourths is woodland. There are settlements 
with stores and post offices at Riverton, in the northwest corner of 
the town, at Pleasant Valley, near the south line, and at Barkham- 
sted, in the valley of East Branch of Farmington River. The Cen- 
tral New England railway crosses the southwest comer but maintains 
no station within the town. A star postal route connects Riverton 
with Winsted, and a similar route also connects Riverton, Pleasant 
Valley, and Barkhamsted with New Hartford. There are 80 miles 
of roads, of which 5 nliles are State road. The town-worked roads 
are in general fair, though the grades are sevei*e in many places. The 
State road is part of the excellent bituminous macadam trunk line 
between New Hartford and Winsted. 

Barkhamsted was incorporated as a town in October, 1779. Pre- 
viously it had been only very sparsely settled, but at this time its 
growth began. The largest population was shown in the census of 
1830, and since then the population has decreased from 44 to 22 per 
square mile. The cause of the decline is the inability of this area to 
compete successfully with the western farming districts on account 
of the rough topography and the stony soil, which make cultivation 



74 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



very difiiciilt. The town is not well situated for manufacturing, on 
account of transportation difficulties, so that many of the people 
have moved to manufacturing towns or to better farming districts. 
There is little probability of much future growth, although as a sum- 
mer resort much could be made of the scenic attractions of Bark- 
hamsted. 

Population of Barkhamsted, 175'6 to 1910. (^ 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


- Year. 


Population. 


1756 


18 
250 
503 


1800 

1810 

1820 

1830 


1,437 
1,506 
1,592 
1,715 


1840 

1850 

1860 

1870 


1,571 
1,524 
1,272 
1,439 


1880 


1,297 


1774 


1890 


1,130 


1782 


1900 


864 


1790 


1910 


865 











a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 652. 

The principal industries of Barkhamsted are agriculture and the 
manufacture of turned wooden articles, particularly rakes. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Barkhamsted is a typical highland town, except that it is deeply 
trenched by three valleys. The valley of East Branch of Farming- 
ton River runs southward across the eastern part of the town. In 
the northwest comer Still River enters the town from Colebrook 
and at Riverton unites with West Branch of "Farmington River, 
which flows south-southeastward through a deep valley and finally 
empties into Greenwood Pond near the south boundary. Morgan 
River, or Mohawk Brook as it is sometimes called, flows eastward 
across the southern portion of the town and also enters Greenwood 
Pond. It is formed by the junction of Morgan Brook and Mallory 
Brook near the Winchester line. • 

Barkhamsted comprises a dissected plateau and three deep river 
valleys cut into it. The remnants of the plateau are 1,000 to 1,140 
feet above sea level, and above them rise a few residual mountains 
such as Pine Mountain, which has an elevation of 1,420 feet. The 
vaUey floors are from 400 to 680 feet above sea level, and the smaller 
streams are the less deeply intrenched. A very striking feature of 
these valleys is that their middle and lower slopes are very steep and 
in places even precipitous. 

On each side of West Branch near Pleasant Valley, at an elevation 
of 800 feet above sea levels there is a well-developed terrace. The 
profile across Barkhamsted (section B-B\ PI. II) given in figure 19 
shows the dissected plateau, the deep, steep-sided valleys, and the 
800-foot terrace. In studying the profile it must be borne in mind 
that Barkhamsted is traversed by three good-sized streams, which 
with their tributaries have very extensively destroyed the plateau, 
which now is marked only by the high points. In regions more 



BARKHAMSTED. 



75 



.- - "H 

o <-f n 

O O fTi 

o o H 



hj 



o 

w 



to' 



(2db7yan, R iver 



ParVnin^tOTzRLver 



distant from master streams, such as East Hartland, the plateau 
is much better preserved. The dissected plateau is believed to be 
a portion of a marine terrace, known as the Litchfield terrace. 

The valley of East Branch of Farming- 
ton River trends southward and is very 
straight. At no point does the stream 
lie more than a third of a mile from a 
straight line drawn along its general 
course. The cross section of the valley 
shows a flat floor of stratified drift from 
a quarter to half a mile wide, bordered 
by steep rock slopes 200 to 500 feet high. 
A valley of this type is called a U-shaped 
valley and is believed to be the result 
of glaciation. Further evidence of its gla- 
cial origin is seen in the lateral moraines 
plastered against the rock slopes in Hart- 
land. (See p. 138.) One who goes through 
the valley receives an impression of gran- 
deur seldom experienced in Connecticut. 
Equally fine are the views from some of 
the spurs that project into the valley from 
the general line of the walls. The gradi- 
ent of the stream is only 15 feet to the 
mile. 

Beaver Brook, the only tributary to 
East Branch from the west, roughly bi- 
sects the wedg^ of country between East 
and West branches. For the last mile and 
a half it flows across a stratified-drift 
plain with a mean gradient of 35 feet to 
the mile. In its upper course it drains a 
till-covered area and flows with an aver- 
age gradient of about 100 feet to the mile. 
This vaUey, together with the valley of 
East Branch, is to be flooded by a dam 
now under construction by the Hartford 
Board of Water Commissioners. The dam 
will be in New Hartford a mile south of 

the Barkhamsted line but wiU back up water nearly to Barkhamsted 
village in East Branch and about half a mile up Beaver Brook. 

Several tributaries enter East Branch from the east after descending 
steep, ravine-like valleys from the plateau. Their beds are cut into 
rock in many places. 

West Branch of Farmington River occupies a valley like that of 
East Branch in that it has steep rock walls, a low gradient, and a flat 
floor of stratified drift, but it is more sinuous and its flat floor is nar- 



z 

yH Bend 'in 



stBrancTi, 
Vr^niJifftorL Kiver 



tti 



\r\ 



76 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

rower. No large tributaries join it from the east, but a number come 
in from the west, including Still River and Morgan River. The valley 
of West Branch is also a glacially deepened valley. It has been 
dammed half a mile below the New Hartford line, forming an artificial 
body of water called Greenwood Pond. 

The valley of Morgan River or Mohawk Brook is so wide and deep 
that evidently it has not been carved by this stream. When the val- 
ley was cut it must have been occupied by a much larger and more 
powerful stream, as explained by Rice and Gregory ^^ in the following 
statement : 

In the vicinity of Winsted the arrangement of tributaries to the upper Farmington 
in glacial and preglacial times was very different from the present. Mohawk Brook, 
which is now a small stream entering the Farmington near Pleasant Valley, has passed 
through several stages. At one time, previous to the glacial period, Mohawk Brook 
and Mad River at Winsted were parts of the same stream and drained a considerable 
area from Norfolk eastward. Later the Naugatuck River worked up through Winsted 
and captured the western (upper) part of this stream, so that Mad River became a tribu- 
tary to the Naugatuck and reached the Sound by way of the Housatonic. The advent 
of the ice sheet modified this drainage considerably; a dam was built in the Naugatuck 
Valley, south of Burrville, by material left by the glacier, and similar deposits in East 
Winsted served to close up the channel through the Mohawk to the east. These two 
dams formed a lake which extended over the present site of Winsted, from Reberts- 
vllle to Burrville, into which Mad River drained from the west. These glacial dams 
were built so high that the lowest part of this newly made lake basin was at the north, 
and the lake overflowed into Sandy Brook, thence into the Farmington near Riverton. 
The stream which wanders along the floor of the extinct lake is significantly called Still 
River. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Schist and gneiss. — The bedrocks of Barkhamsted include the 
Hoosac (^'Hartland") schist, Becket granite gneiss, and Berkshire 
schist. 

The Hoosac schist, which underlies the part of Barkhamsted east of 
Each Branch of Farmington River, is a light to dark gray mica schist 
with many thin igneous intrusions. Some of the weathered parts are 
greenish gray owing to the presence of chlorite, and others are stained 
yellow or brown by iron oxides . The rock is made up of flakes of mica, 
both light and dark, granules of quartz and feldspar, and less abundant 
garnet, kyanite, and staurohte. The parallel arrangement of the 
mica flakes and elongated crystals of the other minerals make it highly 
schistose and cleavable. The schistose layers are roughly parallel 
but highly contorted and folded. The forces that produced the folded 
and schistose structures also fractured and faulted the rock exten- 
sively. The fractures imdoubtedly carry water which might be ob- 
tained in moderate quantities by drilled wells. The fissures are ver- 
tical or steeply mclined for the most part — an attitude which, though 
disadvantageous, does not at all preclude the possibility of obtaining 
water. No developments of water from the Hoosac schist were noted 

39 Rice, W. N., and Gregory, H. E., Manual of the geology of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. and Nat. 
Hist. Survey Bull. 6, pp. 253-254, 1906. 



BARKHAMSTED. 77 

ia Barkhamsted, but elsewhere drilled wells draw water from this 
formation. 

The Becket granite gneiss underlies that portion of Barkhamsted 
west of East Branch of Farmington River, except a little of the north- 
west corner. Its gneissic character is due to its make-up, for it is 
composed of alternating layers rich iii quartz and feldspar and layers 
in which mica is predominant. Like the Hoosac schist the Becket 
granite gneiss is fractured and jointed. In general, too, the fractures 
are nearly vertical, so that the water conditions are essentially the 
same. 

Underlying an area about 3 miles long and a mile wide in the north- 
west corner of the town along the west boimdary is the Berkshire 
schist. It is essentially like the Hoosac schist except that it is gen- 
erally more thoroughly weathered and shows greenish colors due to 
chlorite or red and yellow stains of iron oxides. It is believed to be 
the same as the Berkshire schist of Massachusetts and New York. 
The statements made above concerning the water conditions in the 
Hoosac schist apply equally to the Berkshire schist. 

Till. — The surface material in Barkhamsted is chiefly till but in- 
cludes some stratified drift. The till, which is also known as boulder 
clay or hardpan, forms a mantle averaging perhaps 20 feet in thickness 
though in places it is much thicker and in others it is absent, leaving 
the bedrock exposed. The till mantle consists of all the detritus car- 
ried along by the ice sheet of the glacial epoch and deposited in a thor- 
oughly mixed condition, generally without any manifestation of sort- 
ing or washing. A well dug in material of this kind, if deep enough, 
and not on a steep slope or in some other disadvantageous position, has 
sufficient surface exposed below the water table for water to seep into 
it in quantities large enough for domestic and farm demands. Should 
such a well fail in dry seasons the remedy is to dig it deeper, so that 
it may extend some distance below the lowest level that the ground 
water reaches in extreme droughts. If the well already reaches bed- 
rock it is inadvisable to blast into rock, but a new well should be dug 
in a more advantageous position or should be drilled. 

Within the till there are some lens-shaped masses of material from 
which the finest particles have been washed and the residue partly 
stratified. Such lenses are more porous than the rest of the till and 
where penetrated by dug wells give abundant supplies of water. 
They are locally called ''veins" or ''springs." Unfortunately there 
is no way of determining the presence or absence of such lenses before 
digging a well. 

The average depth of the water in the 62 wells dug in till that were 
measured in Barkhamsted was 9.2 feet, the range being from 2.7 
feet in well No. 36 (see PI. Ill) to 22.6 feet in well No. 41. The 
reliability of 46 of these wells was ascertained ; 29 were said to be non- 
failing, and 17 were said to fail. 



78 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

Stratified drift. — Stratified drift forms the valley fill along the entire 
length of both East Branch and West Branch of Farmington River, 
and small patches occur at several points along Morgan River. These 
deposits were laid down by the large volumes of water which flowed 
down the valleys in late glacial time. Where the gradient was low 
the current was sluggish and therefore the water dropped some of 
its burden of detritus. Along both branches of the Farmington 
the gradient was low and the deposits are consequently continuous, 
but the fill in Morgan River valley is broken because the gradient was 
high and the stream had sufficient velocity most of the way to carry 
its load along. Beaver Brook is very steep north of Goose Green 
and was able to carry a large amount of detritus, but much of this 
material was dropped when it reached the less steep portion of its 
course, forming the area of stratified drift east and southeast of Goose 
Green. In the northeast corner of the town there is an area of strati- 
fied drift which has a similar origin. 

The stratified drift is nearly free of fine particles and consists 
chiefly of very porous sand and gravel. Water seeps much more 
rapidly into the wells in the stratified drift than into the wells in till, 
and therefore the supply is more abundant. The fluctuation of water 
level is less than in till on account of the greater ease and rapidity of 
circulation, so that if a well in stratified drift reaches the water table 
it is less likely to fail. 

Measurements of 11 wells dug in stratified drift in Barkhamsted 
showed that the depth to water averaged 11.9 feet and ranged from 
4.3 feet in well No. 44 to 17.5 feet in well No. 65. (See PL III.) Of 
these wells six were said never to fail and three were said to fail, but 
the reliability of the other two was not ascertained. 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Barkhamsted. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks, 


3 




Slope 

.. do 


Feet. 
780 
785 
560 
790 
830 
890 
1,025 
1,015 

930 

930 

1,045 

1,040 
730 
890 


Feet. 
27.5 
17.2 
18.4 
16.0 
13.8 
16.0 
20.0 
15.1 

10.9 
18.4 
26.1 

18.3 

7.5 

27.3 


Feet. 

19.3 

13.8 

15.9 

6.1 

5.5 

7.8 

7.9 

4.4 

4.8 
11 
3.7 

15.7 
4.5 
6.1 


Chain pump 


Unfailing;. 


4 




do 


Fails; abandoned. 


5 




...do 


Windlass rig 


Fails. 


8 




...do 


Chain pump 


Unfailing. 
Fails. 


9 




..do . 


do 


10 




.. do 


do 


Do. 


12 




.. do 


do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


13 




Flat hill- 
top. 

Slope.... 
...do 


do 


15 




Windlass 


Do. 


16 




Deep-well pump 

do 




17 




Flat hill- 
top. 

Slope.... 

...do 

...do 


Fails. 


18 








19 
21 




Gravity system 

Chain pump 


Unfailing. 



BARKHAMSTED. 

Dug wells ending in (ill in Barhhamstcd — Continued. 



79 



No. 
on 

ri. 

III. 



22 

23 
24 
25 
28 
27 
28 
29 
31 
32 
33 

34 
36 
37 
38 
39 

40 
41 
42 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
66 
67 
68 



72 
73 
77 
78 
79 
80 
81 

82 



OvTier. 



F.J. Church... 



Parsonage . 



C. M. Tolson. 

do 

do 

do 



J. N. Lock- 
wood. 



W. E. Man- 
chester. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Slope. . . 

...do...., 
...do..... 
...do.... 
...do..... 

Plateau . 
...do...., 
...do..... 

Slope.... 

HiUtop.. 

Slope. . . . 

...do..... 

...do 

...do..... 
Hilltop.. 
...do 



Slope. . . 
...do.... 
...do... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Hilltop. 
Slope. . . 
Hilltop. 
Slope. . . 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Hilltop. 
...do.... 
Slope. . . 
...do.... 

...do.... 
Slope. . . 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Plain... 

Slope. . . 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 
890 

960 

600 

580 

580 

990 

1,005 

1,050 

880 

1,025 

945 

815 
520 
600 
610 
620 

530 

555 

500 

500 

600 

960 

890 

1,020 

1,055 

1,150 

1,172 

1,165 

1,185 

1,150 

1,125 

1,235 

1,090 

950 

1,035 

1,115 

435 

480 

505 

475 
530 
610 
770 
870 
1,025 
1,088 
425 

510 



Depth 
of well. 



Feet. 
17.5 

13.9 
22.6 
13.9 
14.8 
19.8 
12.9 
13.3 
13.7 
18.9 
22.9 



12.1 
32.3 
15.9 
7.7 
20.1 
16.3 
26.1 
16.5 
19.3 
13.1 
14.0 
13.8 
17.8 
16.2 
13.0 
18.3 
18.0 
13.8 
11.0 
15.1 
13.9 
18.2 
19.3 

10.0 

16 

19.5 

10.4 

13.8 

10.3 

30.7 

16.5 

16.4 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 
15.8 

6.6 

14.7 

8.3 

13.0 

11.6 

5.8 

5.3 

7.2 

13.5 

13.5 

2.7 
2.7 
7.6 
9.5 
10.5 

7.9 

12.3 

12.3 

2.9 

2.8 

12.1 

13.1 

6.7 

12.0 

7.3 

11.4 

10.9 

12.9 

5.5 

7.8 

2.8 

6.8 

8.1 

5.7 

8.1 

12.6 

8.4 

12.9 

7.1 



12.8 



Method of lift. 



Windlass and 
rig. 

Chain pump 

do....: 

Pitcher pump... 

Chain pump 

do 

do 

(«) 

Deep- well pump 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 



pulley 



Chain pump 

Gravity system. 

Windlass rig 

do 

Chain pump 



do , 

do 

Pitcher pump. . , 
Gravity system . 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

House pump 

(«) 

(«) 

(«) 

(«) 

Windlass rig 

(«) 

Two-bucket rig. 
House pump 

(«) 

Windlass , 



do 

Chain pump . 



Gravity svstem . 

(«) : 

Gravity system . 

Windlass rig 

do 



.do. 



Remarks', 



Fails; water enters 
from fissure in rock . 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do, 

Do, 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Unfailing; never less 
than 4 feet of water. 
Fails. 
For analysis see p. 80. 

Fails. 

Unfailing; for assay 
se&p.80. 



Fails. 
Unfailing.. 
Do. 



Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Do. 



a No rig. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Barhhamsted. 



2 
6 
35 
43 
44 
62 
63 
65 
71 

75 
76 



M. B. Frazier. 



Plain... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Slope... 
...do.... 
Plain... 
...do.... 

...do 

...do.... 



.do. 
.do. 



Fed. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


515 


15.6 


13.6 


530 


15.8 


14.0 


430 


13.0 


11.5 


560 


18.1 


14.4 


480 


16.4 


4.3 


430 


13.0 


10.5 


430 


13.8 


13.0 


425 


18.3 


17.5 


428 


19.6 


15.7 


405 


10.5 


10.0 


410 


10.6 


6.0 



Pitcher pump. . 

Chain pump 

House pump — 
Two- bucket rig. 

(«) 

Windlass 

do 

Chain pump 

do 



(«) 

Chain pump. 



UnfaiUng. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Unfailing; 
see p. 80. 
Fails. 



for assay 



a No rig. 



80 GRoujsri) WATER IN bouthington-granby area, conn. 

Springs in Barkhamsted. 



No. 
on 
I'l. 

111. 



/ 
11 

14 
20 
30 
04 

70 
74 



Ownor, 



W. E. Manchostor, 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Foot of 

slope. 

...do 

Blopp 

..do 

..do 

.do 

..do 



.do. 
.do. 



Eleva- 










tion 


Tem- 


Yield 






above 


pera- 


per 


Remarlcs. 




soa 


ture. 


minute. 






level. 










Fed. 


" F. 


Gallons. 






.vW 


53 








bU> 


J)3 








1,040 


60. 5 


1 


Unfailmg; piped to house. 




900 


54 




Unfallhig; masonry reservoir. 




«S() 


02 




Piped to house. 




1,000 


51 




Fails. 




500 






Piped to house; for analysis see 
low. 


)>e- 










400 


50 




Piped to house. 




425 


5S 




Do. 





QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

Ill the followiiio; tabic arc given .the results of two analyses and 
two assays of samples of ground water collected in Barldiamsted. 
The waters are soft, are low in mineral content, and are calcium- 
carbonate in type with the exception of No. 39, water from dug Well 
at parsonage, whicli is sodium-carbonate in character. They are 
suitable for most domestic and industrial needs. In boilers they 
would yield only small amounts of scale and would give no trouble 
from foaming. 

Chemical composition and classijlcation of ground waters in Barkhamsted. 

I Paris per million; samples ei>llec(ed Nov. 30, 1915; S. C. Dinsraore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns 
refer to corrwpondlng numbers on VI. Ill; see also records corresponding in immber, pp. 7{>-S0. ] 



Silica (SiOa) 

Iron ( Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Maf^nesiinn (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na-|-K) <* 

Carbonat e radu'lo {VO3) 

Pioarbonat radicle (IICO3) 

Suli-hal radicle (S04) 

eiilorido radicle (Cl) 

Nit ra ( e radicle (N Os) 

Tot al dissolved solids 

Tot a 1 hartincss as CaCOs 

Scjili^forming constituents^ 

Foamhig constituents*' 

Chemical character 

Probabilit y of corrosion^ 

Qualit y for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 



Anal3rses." 



30 



12 

.04 
7.5 
2.1 
7.1 
.0 
44 
3.7 
2.0 
.0 
54 

38 
19 

(\\-C03 

N 
Good. 
Good. 



(vl 



10 

Trace. 

8.0 

2.1 

.5 

.0 



20 
3.7 
5.0 
3.0 

43 
rf29 

37 
1 

Ca-COs 
CO 

Good. 
Good. 



Assa3rs.& 



39 


f71 






Trace. 


Trace. 







tf84 
29 
45 

40 

Na-COa 
N 
Good. 
Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

ft Approximations; for methods used in ivssaj's and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Sample colloctod November 20, 1915. 

rf Computed. 

' Based on computed value; N— noncorroslve; (?)-» corrosion uncertain. 



2 



26 

Trace. 

6 



d47 
25 
40 
10 

Ca-COs 

CO 
Good. 
Good. 



BRISTOL. 81 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

There are no public water supplies in Barkliamsted, except a small 
communal system that supplies a number of houses in River ton and 
obtains its water from a group of wells on the hillside southwest of 
the village. 

The reservoir which the Hartford Board of Water Commissioners 
is constructing on East Branch of Farmington River is not to supply 
water for general consumption but is to augment the summer flow 
of Farmington River, in order to compensate the owners of power 
rio^hts for the loss of flow that will result from the utilization of 
Nepaug River for public consumption in Hartford. (See p. 166.) 

Should it ever become desirable to have public supply in Bark- 
hamsted it would be practicable to develop such a supply by build- 
ing a dam on Beaver Brook or Morgan River. Abundant supplies 
could undoubtedly be pumped from batteries of driven wells along 
either branch of Farmington River, but the cost of pumping would 
preclude competition with surface supplies. 

BRISTOL. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Bristol is near the southwest corner of Hartford County. The 
principal settlement is the city of Bristol, near the center of the town. 
Forestville, in the eastern part, is a good-sized village, and near the 
northeast corner is a small settlement sometimes called Polkville 
and sometimes Edgewood. The city of Bristol was incorporated in 
1911 and is coextensive with the town. There are post offices at 
Bristol and Forestville, but the rest of the town is served by four 
rural-delivery routes. The Highland division of the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford Railroad crosses the town from east to west and 
has stations at Forestville and Bristol. The Plainville & Bristol 
Tramway Co. has trolley lines connecting Bristol with Terr3^ville, 
Forestville, Plain viUe, and Compounce Pond. The area of Bristol 
is about 27 square miles, of which about 35 per cent is woodland. 
Within the town there are about 155 miles of roads and streets, in- 
cluding 8 miles of the bituminous-macadam State trunk-line highway 
between Thomaston and Plainville and 3| miles of State-aid road 
from the northern part of the city northeastward toward Farming- 
ton station. In the eastern part of the town road building is diffi- 
cult on account of large amounts of sand, and in the western two- 
thirds of the town there are a number of bad grades, but the roads 
are in general very good. 

The territory which is now Bristol, together with Burlington, was 
taken from Farmington in 1785 and incorporated as Bristol. In 
1806 Burlington was taken from Bristol and separately incorporated. 
187118°— 21— wsp 466 6 



82 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

In 1920 the population of Bristol was 20;620. The table shows the 
changes in population from 1790 to 1910. The decrease from 1800 
to 1810 was due to the cession of Burlington and does not indicate a 
loss of population, as the towns together grew in that decade from 
2,723 to 2,895. The only loss in population in Bristol was from 1810 
to 1820. Prior to 1810 Bristol had dominated the clock industry of 
this region, but in the next decade Plymouth took the lead because 
of certain superior patents owned there, and many of the Bristol 
people moved to Plymouth. 

Population of Bristol, 17 90-1910. a 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population, 


Year. 


Population. 


1790 


2,462 
2,723 
1,428 
1,362 

1,787 


1840 


2,109 

2,884 
3,436 
3,788 


1880 


5,347 

7,382 

9,643 

13,502 


1800 


1850 


1890 


1810 


1860 


1900 


1820 


1870 


1910 


1830 











a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 652. 

• There is some farming in Bristol, but by far the greater portion of 
the population is dependent on manufacturing. The principal 
products are metallic and include bicycle and automobile parts and 
accessories, clocks, watches, steel fishing rods, brass goods, and aU 
sorts of malleable and gray iron castings. There is also some laiit- 
ting of underwear. As Bristol's manufacturing industries are pros- 
perous and produce goods of a staple character it is probable that the 
city will continue to grow in population. 

Bristol is one of the few towns in Connecticut in which there has 
ever been any mining. In the northeast corner of the town there is a 
small amount of copper ore which has been worked at different 
times. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

The eastern part of Bristol is a portion of the plain on which Plain- 
ville, Farmington, and Southington lie, but the rest of the town is 
very hilly and is part of the western highland of Connecticut. The 
rocks underlying the eastern part are sandstones and shales which 
have been worn down so that the surface is only >200 to 400 feet above 
sea level. Prior to the glacial epoch the relief was probably some- 
what greater. The ice wore off the high points and with the material 
thus obtained filled the depressions to some extent, partly with ice- 
borne and partly with water-borne detritus. The water-laid fill is 
restricted to areas less than 250 feet above sea level in this portion of 
the lowlands, and it forms a weU-developed plain. Above 250 feet 
rise rock drumlins, gently rounded hills with roughly elliptical ground 
plan; they have rock cores but are mantled with till. The big area 



BRISTOL. 83 

of till in Bristol, Plain ville, Burlington, and Farmington shown on 
the map (PL II) is a compound rock drumlin. At ForestviUe it is 
cut across by Pequabuck River, south of which it is farther continued 
as a series of rock drumlins which may be traced as far as New Haven. 
This ridge has been called the Quinnipiac Ridge by Davis,'*^ who 
believes that its prominence is due to heavy sandstone beds which 
have resisted weathering more than the adjacent shale. 

The lowland is bounded on the west by the escarpment of the 
highlands. South Mountain, near the Wolcott line, is 1 ,020 feet above 
sea level, or about 800 feet above the plain, but to the north the 
escarpment is lower. Bristol and Polkville are underlain by a variety 
of granite, which, although more resistant than the sandstone of the 
lowlands, has not withstood erosion as well as the schist to the west 
and southwest. Consequently, Bristol and Polkville lie in a depres- 
sion intermediate in altitude between the lowlands and the adjacent 
highland areas. 

The northwestern, western, and southwestern parts of Bristol are 
characteristic highland areas. In the southwest corner, for example, 
there are five hilltops that range from 980 to 1,020 feet above sea 
level and mark a plateau which formerly was very extensive but is 
now worn away except for a few such residual fragments. Chippen 
HiU, northwest of Bristol, is also a remnant of the old plateau. 

The vaUey of Pequabuck River west of Bristol is notable for the 
great banks of sand and gravel plastered against the rock slopes. 
Some of the cuts made in the construction of the railroad expose 
sand banks 150 feet high. Plate IV, B, shows such a cut IJ miles 
east of TerryviUe station. The sand and gravel deposits extend over 
an area bounded on the south by the Pequabuck and on the north 
and west by the 650-foot contour, approximately, as shown on Plate 
II. The eastern boimdary runs through the city of Bristol in a 
north-south direction. This whole mass of stratified drift is higher 
than that of the lowland, and much of it is a great deal higher. It also 
differs in that thin clay and silt beds, horizontal in position and of 
considerable lateral extent and continuity, are found in it. These 
features indicate that the sediments were deposited in rather quiet 
waters, very Ukely those of a lake. The most probable explanation 
of a lake in this position with its water level 400 feet above the plain 
to the east is that it must have been held up byvthe ice. During the 
recession of the continental glacier from this region there was, pre- 
sumably, a lobe which projected from the general front of the ice 
sheet and extended from a point at least as far north as Polkville 
southward to South Mountain and dammed Pequabuck River and 
its tributaries, making a lake. Because of the rainy cHmate and the 

«> Davis, W. M., The Triassic formation of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Kept., pt. 
2, p. 183, 1898. 



84 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

melting of much ice the streams tributary to the lake were vigorous 
and easily cut into the unconsolidated till and carried much sediment. 
The deposits seem to be rather like deltas; some of the coarser beds 
are very steep and highly cross-bedded like foreset delta deposits, 
and some of the finer ones are nearly horizontal like bottom-set delta 
deposits. It is probable that the valley was never filled but was 
merely fringed with deltas on the northwest and west sides. Had 
the valley been completely filled and then cut down to its present 
size the material would probably have been deposited as a huge allu- 
vial fan opposite the point where the Pequabuck now debouches onto 
the lowland. No such cone-shaped mass is found there, and the plain 
is, instead, very flat. Pequabuck River has, however, cut away some 
of the deposits, especially at the foot of the slopes. A quarter of a 
mile east of Fitzpatrick's spring (No. 30, PL III), on the north side of 
the road, is a sand pit, which is illustrated in Plate V, A. The sands 
have been cut away below by the stream, thus causing small ava- 
lanches. In the process faults and folds have been made. The faults 
in these unconsolidated materials are accentuated by the presence 
along them of small amounts of clayey matter, which, as the clay is 
darker and crumbles less easily than the sand, are somewhat promi- 
nent. Two sets of intersecting faults are shown in the upper part 
of the view, and. folded beds at the bottom. 

In the northeastern part of the city of Bristol, on North Street 
an eighth of a mile west of the end of the North Street troUey line, 
is a high bank in which a section of beds of probable lacustrine origin 
is exposed. Similar clayey beds were found in a railroad cut half 
a mile east of Fitzpatrick's spring. 

Pequabuck River, a tributary of Farmington River, flows eastward 
across Bristol about 2 miles from the southern boundary. Mr. C. W. 
BueU, of Bristol, supplied the following figures on the flow of this 
stream, derived from measurements made by weir about a mile below 
the TeiTyville railroad station. The average flow for the year is cal- 
culated at about 22 second-feet. 

Flow of Pequabuck River near Terry ville station. 



Month. 


Second-feet. 


Month. 


Second-feet. 


Month. 


oecond-feet. 


January 


38 
34 
38 
23 


May 


20 

17 

8 

5 


SpptPTnbPT 


7 


February 


June 


October 


10 


March 


July 


November 


22 


April 


August 


December 


36 











Formerly there were a number of water powers on the Pequabuck, 
and these gave Bristol its original impetus in manufacturing. Most 
of them have now been outgrown and are abandoned. 



U, S, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 4G0 PLATE V 




A. FAULTED AND FOLDED STRATIFIED DRIFT IN THE FILL OF 
PEQUABUCK VALLEY. 




B. KETTLE HOLE AT BURLINGTON CENTER. 



1 



BRISTOL. 



85 



Marsh Brook, which flows across the northwest corner of the town 
and then through Plymouth and into Pequabuck River, was also 
studied by Mr. Buell. He made 39 weir measurements between June 
2, 1909, and May 31, 1910. These measurements were well distrib- 
uted and indicated an average flow of about 2^ second-feet. 

North Branch flows southward through Bristol about 1 J miles from 
the eastern boundary and enters the Pequabuck at Fores tviUe. Sev- 
eral float measurements were made on this stream and its tributaries, 
and the results are given in the table below. The point at which 
each measurement was made is indicated by bearing and distance 
from a well near by. (See PI. III.) 

Floio of North Branch and ils tributaries. 



Place. 


Date. 


Flow 
(second- 
feet). 


\ mile south of well No. 100 


Sept. 24,1915 
do 


3.7 


J mile west of well No. 115 


5.7 


500 feet south of weU No. 91 


do 


.7 


400 feet west of weU No. 126 


Sept. 30, 1915 
Sept. 25,1915 


5.4 


Between wells Nos. 187 and 188 


.1 







WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Underlying Bristol there are three varieties of bedrock — the 
Hoosac schist, the Bristol granite gneiss, and red sandstone of Triassic 
age. There are several wells in the town that obtain water from the 
gneiss and sandstone, but none which draw from the schist. 

ScTiist and gneiss. — The Hoosac schist is a typical mica schist, light 
to dark gray with a silvery sheen, and very fissile. It is essentially 
composed of good-sized flakes of mica, both black and white, and of 
granules of quartz. The mica flakes are roughly parallel to one 
another and give the rock its prominent cleavage. The forces which 
metamorphosed the schist also produced joints in great number, so 
that fissures of large and small size abound. Many of these un- 
doubtedly carry water which has percolated into them from the over- 
lying soil and which might be recovered by means of drilled wells. 
The areas underlain by the Hoosac schist comprise the highest por- 
tions of the town, a triangular patch of about a square mile in the 
northwest corner, a narrow strip along the margin of the lowlands, 
and a strip a mile wide along the Wolcott town line. 

The Bristol granite gneiss constitutes the bedrock of the rest of the 
highland portion of Bristol and consists essentially of feldspar and 
black mica with or without quartz. The quartzose phase is granitic 
and the quartz-free phase dioritic. Mashing has altered the simple 
granular texture of the rock and made it gneissoid. These changes 



86 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



CD S 



•00 



Is ii 




BRISTOL. 87 

were accompanied by the production of fissures and joints, from 
which a number of the drilled wells of Bristol obtain water. Four 
such wells are tabrJated on page 93. 

Sandstone. — The lowland eastern portion of Bristol has red sand- 
stone and shale as bedrocks. The valley of North Branch is probably 
underlain by more shaly rock than the ridge which follows the 
eastern town line. No such crushing as characterizes the Hoosac 
schist has occurred in these rocks, but joints and fissures have been 
abundantly formed as a result of block faulting and tilting to the 
east. In these joints and in the pores of the coarser sandstone beds 
there is water which may be obtained by drilled wells. Though no 
prediction as to the likelihood of obtaining a satisfactory supply at 
any particular point can be made, the probability of success is high. 
Three drilled wells in sandstone, all successful, were visited, and the 
information obtained is given in the table on page 93. 

Stratified drift. — Under the heading ''Surface features" the distri- 
bution and origin of till and stratified drift, the two kinds of surface 
material in Bristol, have been discussed. 

The wells in stratified drift are not as successful as in .other towns 
in the Southington-Granby area, because much of this material is on 
steep slopes from which the water drains readily. In 141 dug wells 
the depth to water ranged from 4.3 feet in well No. 289 (PL III) to 
44.8 feet in well No. 234, and the average was 16.9 feet. The measure- 
ments were made in September and October, 1914, after a long drought, 
so that the water table was unusually low. Nine other weUs visited 
were completely dry. Information as to reliability was obtained for 
40 wells, of which 14 fail and 26 are nonfailing. 

Till. — The weUs dug in tiU that were visited in Bristol average 
15.6 feet in depth to water, the range being from 3 feet in well 
No. 143 to 38.2 feet in well No. 61. In all 138 wells dug in till were 
measured. Of these 5 were dry, 12 more were said to fail, and 37 
were said to be nonfaihng. The rehability of the remaining 84 wells 
was not ascertained. 

RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

In the following tables the numbers in the first column of each 
table refer to the serial nmnbers on the maps (PI. Ill and fig. 20). 
It was found necessary to give a larger map of Forestville because 
of the great number of weUs to be recorded. On the enlarged map 
are shown wells Nos. 185 to 302, 305, and 306. Some of these are 
also plotted on Plate III for convenience in cross reference. 



88 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



Dug wells ending in till in Bristol. 



No. 
on PI. 

Ill 
or fig. 

20. 


Owiior. 


Topo- 
praphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 




1 




Slope.. . 
...do 


Feet. 
810 
830 

880 

885 
880 
885 
880 
810 
820 
700 
825 
825 
795 
670 
070 
605 

070 
050 
700 
720 

3S0 
385 

390 
395 
400 
920 
920 
940 
940 
950 
940 
945 
020 
400 
400 
410 
400 
460 
450 
455 
320 
380 
390 

305 

300 
320 
320 
280 
285 
300 
335 
310 
305 
275 
295 
295 
275 
200 


Feet. 
12.0 
11.8 
11.3 

16.0 
11.5 
27.3 
17.1 
8.8 
17.9 
11.4 
19.7 
16.1 
20. 3 
19.1 
19.5 
24.1 

25.7 
10.5 
29.9 
18.0 

22.5 
24.0 

18.3 
29.6 
27.3 
IS. 8 
23.0 
20.0 
29. 9 
25. 
20.5 
21.5 
33.7 
20.1 
21.8 
15.9 
19.5 
20.5 
40.0 
23.2 
13.7 
27.0 
24.3 

18.0 

10.0 
24.7 
11.0 
10.2 
24.1 
33.5 
27.1 

8.7 
23.1 
12.0 
29.5 
22.3 
11.0 

9. -^ 


Feet. 

9.5 

10.3 

8.7 

12.0 

7.5 

14.0 

14.5 

7.2 

14.7 

0.5 

18.1 

12.1 

13.0 

10.2 

18.5 

17.0 

13.3 

14.1 
20.9 


Dipping 


Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do.a 

Do. 

House abandoned. 

Fails. 

XTnfailing. 
Do. 

Do.?> 

Fails. 

Abandoned. 

Unfaihng. 

Fails. 
Unfailing, c 

Tiled. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Unfailing. 

(0. 

Fails; abandoned. 

Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Tiled.if 

Fails; abandoned. 

Unfailing. 

T>o.h 

Abandoned 

spring. 
Unfaihng. 

Do. 
Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Unfailing. 
Fails. 




2 








3 
4 


M n u t Hope 
Chapel. 


...do 

riateau . 
. .do 


Chain piunp 

House piunp 




4a 






5 




...do 


AVindlass rig 

Chain piunp 

Windlass rig 

Windmill 




6 




...do 




7 




Slope... 
...do 




8 






9 




V alio v.. 

Slope . . . 

... do 


House pump 




10 






11 




Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

House pimip 

Deep-well pump 

Windlass and couii- 

terbalance rig. 
do 




12 




...do.... 




15 




...do.... 




10 




riateau.. 
...do.... 




17 






17a 


School 


...do 




18 




Slope. . . 
... do ... . 


House pump 




19 






20 




...do 


10.3 

20.4 
21.2 

15. 4 
24.4 
22.9 
10. 2 
23.2 
8.3 
19.5 
24.7 
13.0 
20.5 
31.5 
25.3 


Chain pump and 

windmill. 

Windlass 

Windlass and coim- 

terbalance. 

House pump 

Windlass... 




32 




...do.... 




32a 
33 


• 


...do.... 
...do 




34 




..do 




35 




...do 


House pump 

Chain pump 

Windlass 




40 




Slope.. . 
do ... 




47 






48 




Hilltop.. 
...do 


.do 




49 




Deep-well pump 

AVindlass 




50 




. .do 




50a 




. .do 


Chain piunp 

(f) 




50b 




...do 




51 




Slope.... 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 

do 




52 






53 




...do 






54 




...do 


'"'io.'i" 

17.0 
38.2 
22.3 
12.1 
20. 3 
22.4 

17.4 

14.3 
21.1 

■■"■9.3" 
23.1 
31.8 
22.9 

8.1 
22.0 

9.9 
27.0 
IS. 3 

9.1 

7.7 


Chain pump 

do 




55 




...do 




00 




...do 


Gravity sj'stem 

Windmill 




01 




...do.... 




03 


R. W. Williams. 


Swale... 
Slope. . . 
. .do ... 






72 






70 




Windlass... 




70a 




:..do 


Windlass and house 

pump. 
Windlass 




77 


A. P. Pons 


...do 


for 


100 




...do 


Two-bucket rig 

(e) 




101 




Plain... 
...do 




102 




(0. :::::. ..:..: 




103 




Slope. .. 
I'lain. . . 
Slope. . . 
riain... 
Slope. . . 

Fla^ 

Slope... 
. .do 


Windlass 




105 
106 


C.E.Morris 


Two-bucket rig 

Deep- well pimip 

Windlass 




108 






109 








110 








112 




Pitcher pump 

Deep- well pimip 

Two-bucket rig 

Pitcher pump 

Chain piunp 




112a 






lie 




...do 




114 




...do 




115 




...do.... 





j 



« Well No. 4 is in cellar of house; No. 4a is 00 feet southwest, 

t Well No. 17 is at house UX) feet southwest of road corner; No. 17a is at school house at southwest road 
corner. 

c Well No. 32a is 100 foot oast of No. 32. 

d Well No. 50 is at the house; No. 50a is 150 feet west of No. 50 and 9 feet higher; No. 50b is 300 feet south 
of a point halfway between 50 and 50a and 4J feet higher than 50. 

e No rig. 

/ l>las(od 2 foot into rock. 

<; Winibnill with 10-foot wheel pump and 40-foot tower. Cost S93, plus freight on 1,700 poimds, $47 for 
dvniiniito, fuse, and caps for blasting into rock, and $54 for tile used above rock. 

'h 2(X) foot south of well No. 70. 

♦ Well No. 112a is at the house; No. 112 is 200 feet south. 



BRISTOL. 
Dug wells ending in till in Bristol — Contiiiuod. 



89 



No. 
on PI. 

Ill 
or fig. 

20. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
soa 

level. 


Deiilh 
of woll. 


Doptli 

to 
water. 


Methodof lifl. 


Uomarks. 


116 




Slope. . . 
... do 


Feet. 
275 
330 
335 
325 
280 
270 
270 
285 
287 
295 

280 
205 
255 
300 
305 
040 
730 
845 
845 
890 
910 
880 
950 
935 
905 
900 
875 

890 
8()0 
840 
730 
730 
600 
610 
615 

620 

000 
590 
580 
500 
535 
529 
490 
400 
480 
495 

490 
500 
505 
475 
500 
360 
350 
230 
240 
305 
270 
250 
200 
250 
250 
255 
255 


Feet. 
23.5 
21.1 
28.3 
27.3 
10.9 
• 18.3 
15.0 
21.4 
29.0 
16.6 

16.9 
16.1 
13.2 
26.9 
24.9 
23.5 
18.8 
18. 5 
15.4 
0.1 
21.3 
18.0 
18.5 
14.3 
19.9 
18.8 
12.7 

13.5 
10.3 
8.6 
19.5 
19.3 
10.6 
• 10. 
15.7 

10.0 

10.4 
17.0 
10.3 
27.1 
30.0 
24.2 
13.4 
21.4 
10.8 
11.7 

24.8 
19.9 
21.1 
19.7 
17.1 
18.7 
13.7 
13.3 
20.9 
25.8 
20.5 
9.3 
14.4 
23.8 
35. 2 
20.0 
37.6 


Feet. 
1H.7 
18.8 
25. 
2(i. 3 
15.7 
10.5 
12.0 
15. 9 
19.3 
12.0 

15.5 
14.9 
12.0 
24.2 

""'23."4' 
18.0 
13.0 
14.1 
3.0 
18. 
14.0 
13.5 
10.7 
19.3 
13.2 
12.0 

10.8 
14.7 

0.0 
17.0 
10.0 
13.0 

9.9 
13.0 

8.2 

18.7 
14.1 
14.4 
22.4 
23 5 


Windlass 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


117 




do 


118 




...do 


IJocp-well pump 

Windlass 




119 




do 




120 




do 


HoiLso pump 

Chain pump 

Deep-well pump 

House pump 

do 


Do. 


122 




Plain. . . 
...do 




123 




T)o. 


124 




Slope. . . 
...do. . . . 


Fails. 


125 






133 




Plain... 

Slope... 

Plain... 

. .do 


Windlass and house 
pump. 

House pump 

Two-bucket rig 

House pump 

Two-l)ucket rig 

Windlass... 


1 nfailing. 
Do. 


134 




135 






136 






137 




Slope... 
IlilUop.. 
Slope.. . 
Valley. . 
Hilltop.. 
Slope. . . 
Swale... 
Slope.. . 
. do 




138 




Do. 


139 




Two-bucket rig 

None 


Fails. 


140 






141 




Windlass 




142 




do 




143 








144 




Windlass. . . 




145 






Unfailing. 


146 




Hilltop.. 
Slope.. . 
...do 


Windmill 


147 








148 




Windlass 




149 




...do ... 




Do. 


150 




...do 


Pitcher pump and 
air-pressure sys- 
tem. 

House pump 

.....do 


3 feet in rock. 


151 




. do . . . 


O'). 


152 




...do.... 
...do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


153 


Sweep rig 


154 




...do 




Tiled; abandoned. 


155 




do 


House pump 


(*)• 


157 


..do 




158 




..do 


House pump 

AVindlass and coun- 
terbalance. 

Windlass and house 
pump. 


Fails. 


159 




...do 


Do. 


160 




.do ... 




101 




...do 


Unfailing; tiled. 

Unfailing. 

(0. 


162 




do 


Windlass 


162a 




do .. 


Sweep rig 


163 




...do 




104 




do 




Tiled. 


105 




do 


21.7 
10.2 
18.8 
11.7 
7.0 

14.8 
19.0 
17.1 
13.2 
15. 3 
10.7 
■ 12.4 
12.0 
20.1 
23.5 


Windlass 




100 




.do... 




Unfailing. 
Do. 


107 




...do 


House pump 


107a 




...do 


Do. 


109 




do . 


House pump and 

deep- well pump. 
Windlass 


Do. 


170 




do 


Abandoned. 


171 


..do 




Do. 


171a 
172 




...do.... 
...do... 


Two-bucket rig 

House pump 

Windlass 


Unfailing. 
Unfailing; tiled. 


173 




do . 


Unfailing. 


174 




.do.. 


do 


176 




. .do... 




Abandoned. 


180 




Plain . . . 
do 


Chain pump 

Windlass 




181 




Tiled at bottom. 


182 




Hilltop- 
Slope. . . 
...do 






183 




19.1 
8.7 
12.8 
19.3 
31.4 

'"'36.'3' 


House pump 




184 






193 




do . . 


Gravity system 


(«). 


225 




. do 




226 




do . 


Windlass 




227 




do . . 


Chain pump 

Windlass 


Fails. 


228 




...do.... 





i This well is on a steep slope; unfailing until the road 50 feet away down the slope was lowered. 

* Bottom of well planked to keep out quicksand. 

I On the north side of the road, midway between Nos. 102 and 163. 

m Midway between Nos. 106 and 107. 

n This well is dug into a body of till which fills a trough in the bedrock. The water is siphoned to the 
house, which is 200 feet east and 25 feet lower than the well. On October 9, 1915, it was flowing a little over 
2i quarts a minute. 



90 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GHANbY AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in till in Bristol — Continued. 



No. 
on PI. 

Ill 
or fig. 

20. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


229 




Slope . . . 
...do 


Feet. 
250 
240 
230 

220 
300 
300 
240 
275 
275 
275 
280 
255 
250 
240 
220 
225 
260 
260 


Feet. , 

6.7 

15.2 

18.1 

17.7 
12.0 
28.7 
18.7 
26.0 
29.3 
^ 27.7 
19.3 
26.2 
16.0 
32.4 
5.0 
5.9 
13.0 
15.9 


Feet. 

4.9 

11.5 

17.9 

15.2 
11.6 
21.1 






230 




Windlass 


Tiled. 


231 




...do 




Tiled at bottom; 


232 




...do 


Windlass 


abandoned. 
Rock bottom. 


251 




...do 


Chain pump 

Windlass 




252 




Hilltop.. 
Slope. . . 
...do 


Tiled; unfailing. 
Tiled; fails. 


260 




do 


264 




25.2 
22.6 
23.0 
14.6 
21.6 
12.5 
28.8 
3.8 
3.2 
11.6 
13.9 




Abandoned. 


265 




...do 


Windlass 


Unfailing. 


266 




...do 


Chain pump 

do 


267 




...do 




268 




...do 


do 


Do. 


269 




...do.... 


Windlass 


Do. 


279 




...do.... 






280 




...do 


Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Windlass 


Fails. 


292 




...do 


Tiled. 


305 




...do 


Tiled; abandoned. 


306 




...do 


do 


Do, 













i 



Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Bristol. 



22 




Slope. .. 

riain... 
Slope. .. 

...do 


Feet. 
680 

660 
665 

670 
660 
650 
665 
660 
650 
650 
360 
380 
460 
375 
580 
560 
620 
630 

610 
395 
410 
400 
425 
390 
390 
380 
360 
300 

290 
280 

265 
255 
265 
270 

265 
260 
285 


Feet. 
14.5 

10.9 
32.2 

19.8 
15.5 
6.6 
26.6 
24.1 
30.0 
22.8 
17.3 
29.1 
22.7 
19.6 
18. 3 
25.9 
11.2 
15.5 

23.0 
10.3 
20.4 
23.0 
27.4 
32.0 
24.7 
12.4 
10.8 
11.5 

19.2 

18.8 
11.5 
16.1 
23.6 

21.4 
20.1 
30.0 


Feet. 
12.4 

10.2 
28.9 

18.5 
14.5 
4.5 
23.1 
22.0 
27.5 
21.7 
14.4 
22.6 
20.3 
14.1 
16.5 
25.1 
10.6 
14.0 

16.2 
9.3 
19.3 
20.7 
26.1 
22.5 
20.7 
11.0 
10.0 
8 

16.2 
12 

17.1 

8.5 

1+.4 

22.1 

18.8 


Windlass rig and 

house pump. 

One-buclvCt rig 

One-bucket rig and 

house pump. 

Windlass rig 

Deep- well pump 

Two house pumps. . . 


Unfailing. 


23 




24 




Fails. 


25 




Unfailing.a 


25a 




...do 


25b 
26 




...do 

...do 




27 




...do 


Windlass rig 




28 




Plateau. 
...do 


Fails. 


29 




Windlass rig 

do 


Tiled at bottom. 


31 




Vallcv.. 

Slope.... 

...do 




36 




do 


Unfailing. 
Tiled; unfailing. 
Tiled. 


37 




do 


38 




...do 


House pump 

Deep-well pump 

Windlass rig 

Windmill 


40 




...do 


Unfailing. 


41 
43 


Hubbard 


...do 

Vallev.. 
Plain... 

Valley. . 
Slope.... 
...do 


Fails. 
Tiled. 


44 
45 


F. B. Hubbard.. 


Gasoline engine and 

pump. 
Windlass rig 


Fails. 


56 






57 




Chain pump 

Windlass rig 




58 




...do 




59 




...do 

...do 


Unfailing. 
Do.b 


64 




65 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Sweep rig 


Do.c 


66 




...do 




67 




...do 


One-bucket rig 

Steam pump 

House pump 

Steam pump 

Two-bucket rig 

(e) 




73 

78 


Wallace Barnes 
Co. 


Plain.... 

Slope 

Plain... 

...do 


Do. 


79 
82 


J. H. Sessions & 
Son. 


{d). 


83 




...do 




84 




...do 


Chain pump 


Fails. 


So 




...do 


Abandoned for 


86 




...do 


Windlass rig 

do 


spring. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 


88 




...do 

...do 


89 






Fails; reaches ledge. 



a Well No. 25 is at the house at the angle in the road; No. 25a is 100 feet west of and 7^ feet lower than 
No. 25; No. 25b is 200 feet west of and 17i feet lower than No. 25. 

b On Sept. 7, 1914, had 11 feet of water and on Sept. 27 had 9J feet of water; least observed in 13 years 
was 9t feet. 

c Blasted 5 feet into rock. 

d This well consists of a bricked chamber 6 feet in diameter and 16 feet high, connecting with the surface 
by 6 feet of large tile. Seven iron pipes, 10 to 25 feet long, with open ends, radiate from the chamber. 

e No rig. 



BRISTOL. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Bristol — Oontiniied. 



91 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 
or fig. 
20. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
prfvphic 
liosition. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

lovol. 


Depth 
of well. 


Dejith 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


90 




Plain... 
Slope... 
Plain.... 
Slope.... 
...do 


Feet. 
285 
285 
295 
295 
310 
295 

300 
295 
290 
270 
230 
230 
230 
230 
260 
230 
235 
2G0 
240 
220 
260 
255 
250 
250 
250 
250 
250 
225 
245 
245 
245 
245 
215 
245 
250 
245 

250 
285 
280 
225 
245 
270 
270 
215 
215 
250 
250 
210 
210 
210 
210 
210 
240 
240 
245 
235 
240 
210 
210 
230 
215 
220 
215 
215 
210 
220 
215 
215 
215 


Feet. 
25 A 
28.7 
19.7 
8.3 
15.1 
38.7 

38.7 
42.6 
31.6 
19.1 
11.4 
10.8 
8.2 
9.6 
14.5 
15.2 
5.5 
26.8 
23.1 
19.8 
17.5 
10.7 
23.2 
16.0 
34.3 
21.5 
19 4 
11.0 
20.7 
20.7 
20.7 
17.6 
17.4 
32.2 
16.3 
13.9 

10.5 
17.3 
17.5 
13. 3 
11.3 
13.4 
19.2 
9.5 
27.5 
17.3 
33.6 
8.8 
7.2 
8.8 
8.6 
5.9 
36.8 
18.6 
19.0 
26.0 
29.8 
14.7 
46.7 
32.6 
18.9 
21.9 
20.8 
19.0 
18.9 
25.2 
20.2 
14.5 
13.8 


Feet. 
24.7 
27.9 
18.1 
4.9 
13.6 
37.7 

36.0 
41.6 

'"ii'.o 

10.7 

7.1 

7.8 

8.7 

10.8 

11.2 

4.9 

26.4 

20.1 

15. 6 

16.5 

7.4 


Two-bucket rig 

Windla.ss rig 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

do 


House vacant. 


91 






92 






93 






94 




Unfailing. 
' Unfailing; for analy- 
sis soo, p. 94. 
A.bandoncd.'* 


95 
95a 


C. W. Ilotchkiss. 
"M.'F.'Ford !'.'.'.".". 


Terrace . 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Plain.... 
...do 


Windlass rig 

do 


96 


do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


97 

98 


Two-bucket rig 


126 








127 




...do 


Chain pump 

do 




128 




...do 

...do 


Do. 


129 


AVindUu^s rig 

Cravily sy.stpm 

Deep-well piunp 

Tank pump 


Do. 


130 




Slope.... 
Plain.... 
...do 




131 






132 






177 




...do 


Two-bucket rig 

do 




178 




Slope.... 
Plain.... 
Slope.... 
J 'lain.... 
...do 


(''). 


179 




Windlass rig 

do 


Unfailing, b 


185 




186 




House pump 


Tiled; unMllng. 
Fails. 


187 




188 




...do 


13.9 
33.9 
19.1 
17.1 
10.6 

15. 6 
18.6 
19.3 
16.8 
16.4 
31.9 

"'Ua' 

9.9 
13.3 
16.5 
12.3 

9.9 
10.8 

16. 
9.0 


Windlass rig 

do 




189 




...do 




190 




...do 


Deep-well pump 

Chain pump 




191 
192 




...do 

Slope- 
Plain.... 

...do 


Unfailing. 


194 




Windlass rig 

. ..do 




195 






196 




...do 


Two house pumps. . . 

House pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig and 
house pump. 

Windlass rig 

House pump 

Chai)! iHinip 

House pump 

do 




197 




...do 




198 




...do 


Fails. 


199 
200 
201 




...do 

...do 

...do 


Abandoned. 
Fails; abandoned. 


202 




...do 


Abandoned. 


203 




Hilltop . 
Slope — 
I'lain — 
...do 


Tiled. 


204 






205 




Do. 


206 




TT^nfailing. 


207 




Slope — 
...do 




208 




Pitcher pump 


Do. 


209 




I'lain.... 
...do 


Abandoned, 


210 






Fails; abandoned. 


213 




...do 


15. 8 
30.1 
7.4 
6 

7.4 
6.9 
4.9 
33.5 
14.4 
16.5 
22.7 
25. 3 
12.1 
44.8 
30.4 
16.7 
13.4 
18.8 
17.0 
17.9 
19.3 
14.3 


House pump 

Windlass rig 

House pump 

do 




214 




...do 


Unfailing; tiled. 


215 




...do 


216 




...do 




217 




...do 


do 




218 




...do 


.. ..do 




219 




...do 


Force pump 




220 




Terrace 
Plain... 
Terrace 
Slope... 
Terrace 
Plain... 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 

do 


Tiled. 


221 






222 








223 




Windlass rig 

do 




224 






233 






Abandoned, 


234 




Two-bucket rig 


Do, 


235 




Slope. . . 
...do. . .. 


Do. 


236 




Windlass rig 

do 


Do. 


237 




Plain... 
...do 




238 




. ..do 


Unfailing. 


239 




do . 


do . 


Tiled; unfailing. 
Abandoned. 


240 




do. . 


.do 


241 




Slope. . . 
do. . 


.. ..do 


Tiled. 


242 








243 




. do... 


13.0 
11.3 


Chain pump 

Windlass rig 




244 




...do.... 





a At the north side of the house on the west side of the road and opposite well No. 95. 
b These wells abandoned on account of suspected contamination from the filter beds of the Bristol .sewage- 
disposal plant. 



92 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Bristol — Continued. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 
or fig. 
20. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


245 




Slope. . . 
do 


Feet. 
220 

260 
255 
260 
265 
290 
270 

265 
240 
260 
250 
230 
220 
270 
265 
270 
225 
225 
225 
220 
230 
225 
220 
250 
245 
220 
205 
210 
200 
205 
200 
195 
195 
195 
245 
250 
245 
250 
245 
250 
250 
250 
255 


Feet. 
18.0 

19.8 
16.1 
16.9 
19.4 
24.6 
17 

15 

26.0 
23.4 
28.9 
23.5 
15.3 
17.9 
17.3 
21.0 
16.7 
19.9 
22.8 
24.9 
43.9 
22.2 
18.4 
30.8 
25.0 
10.1 
9.5 
10.5 
10.1 
7.4 
7.9 
6.6 
8.2 
5.2 
27.8 
20.4 
29.5 
24.3 
22.4 
21.3 
24.7 
23.6 
10 


Feet. 
16.4 

17.3 
13.6 
14.0 

18.1 
18.3 


Windlass rig 

do 


Unfailing ; a b a n - 


246 




doned. 
Tiled; abandoned. 


247 




...do 


House pnmp 

do 


Tiled. 


248 




. do . 


Do. 


249 




...do 


"Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

...do 


Abandoned. 


250 




...do 




253 




Hilltop.. 

Slope . . . 
.do 


Fails; tiled; aban- 


254 








doned. 
Fails. 


255 




22.5 

22.2 

25.0 

21.2 

13.6 

15.9 

13.0 

14.0 

12.1 

16.8 

19.1 

21.2 

42.3 

19.2 

12.2 

29.4 

22.9 

7.9 

8.5 

7.7 

7.9 

6.3 

5.7 

5.5 

6.3 

4.3 

27.0 

17.1 

23.9 

22.3 

21.9 

20.2 

22.3 

21.6 

7 


Windlass rig 

.do 


Abandoned. 


256 


I. ..do 


Fails. 


257 


..do 






258 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Chain pnmp 


Tiled. 


259 




...do 


Abandoned. 


261 




do 


Do. 


262 




...do 


Windlass rig 

do 




263 




.do 




270 




...do 


Chain pump 

do 




271 




...do 




272 




...do 




Tiled; abandoned. 


273 




.do 


Windlass rig 

do 


Abandoned. 


274 




do 


Do. 


275 


...do 


do 


Do. 


276 


l...do 






277 


do 


Windlass rig 

Chain piunp 

do 




278 


do 




281 


do 


Do. 


282 




.Plain... 
dn 


...do 


Do. 


283 




do 




284 


i do... 


do 


Do. 


285 




.do... 




Do. 


286 




do. ... 


Chain pump. 

Windlass rig 

House pump 




287 




...do 


Unfailing. 


288 




...do 


Tiled. 


289 




.do 


Abandoned. 


294 




...do 


Two-bucket rig 

Pitcher prunp 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

House pump 

Deei)-well pump 

House pump 

do 




295 




.. do 


Tiled. 


296 




do 


Tiled; abandoned. 


297 




...do 




299 




do. 




300 




do.. 




301 




do. .. 


Tiled; unfailing. 


302 




. do... 


Tiled. 


304 




dn. . 


Gasoline engine. . . . : 


W- 




1 





ft This well was dug through th,e following section: 8 inches loam, 2 feet clean sand, 2 feet clean gravel, 5 
feet sand. It is about 8 feet in diameter and is pumped by a gasoUne-driven centrifugal pump. Water 
used for irrigating. 

Driven wells in Bristol. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 

or 

fig. 
20. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Remarks. 


70 


Ingraham Clock Co 


Narrow plain. 
Plain 


Feet. 
340 
225 
245 
250 


Feet. 

25-^0 
35 
30 
30 


Feet, 
(a) 

25' 




211 




Fails. 


212 




do 




298 




do 


('')• 











o 8 or 10 wells , abundant water found just above bedrock. 
b A 25-foot dug well deepened with a 5-foot drive pipe. 



Abandoned because of hardness of the water. 



BRISTOL. 

Drilled wells in BriMol. 



93 



No. 

on 

ri. 

Ill 
or 

fig- 
20. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Ele- ■ 
level.' 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Di- 
am- 
eter 

of 
well. 


Yield 
per 
min- 
ute. 


Water-bearing 
formation. 


Remarks. 


13 

62 

69 
71 

290 
291 


S. N. Minor.... 
R. W. WiUiams 

Sessions Foun- 
dry Co. 

New Departure 
Manufactur- 
ing Co. 

M. T. Mccor- 
mick. 

J. Tegnon 


Hilltop.. 

Flat hiU- 

top. 

Plain.... 
...do 

Slope 

...do 


Feet. 
810 
445 

375 
320 

255 

265 
255 


Feet. 
*""90' 

156 
315 

52 

60 
75 


Feet. 
6i 

26 

30-40 
50 

4 

20 
8 


Feet. 
'""30' 

4 
12 

26 


In. 

8 
6 

8-6 

10 
6 


Gals. 
2i 

85-90 
20 

1 

5 


Granite gneiss 
.... do 

do 

do 

Sandstone 

do 

do 


Pneumatic 
system; for 
assay see 
p. 94. 

For assay see 
p. 94.'- 


293 


F. A. Peck 


...do 


For assay see 
p. 94. 



a Not completed when visited; then 123 feet deep; water was obtained from a fissvu-e at about 100 feet 
depth. 

ft This well will flow 7 gallons a minute through a pipe to the level of a brook near by, but pumping in- 
creases yield. Used for boilers, etc. 

c Water enters from three fissures. 

Springs in Bristol. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 
or 

fig. 
20. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


14 




Slope 


Feet. 
680 
700 
430 

405 
605 
330 
380 
310 

260 
280 

255 
310 

310 
270 
660 

375 
370 

300 


°F. 
52 


Gals. 




21 




Swale 


Unfailing. 

Piped to bottling works; for anal- 
ysis see p. 94. 
Used by C. E. Perkins for bottling. 


30 
39 


E. J. Fitzpatrick... 


Foot of slope.. 
Valley 


49 

48 
54 
53 
57 
53 

57 
55 

54 


100 (?) 


20 


42 




do 


Concrete basin; unfailing. 


68 


SlODft 




74 


J. L. Willcox 


....Tdo 


Piped to house; unfailing. 


75 


do 


Piped to house; unfailing; basin 


80 


do 


blasted out of granite ledge; well 
70 years old. 
Issues from a ledge. 


81 


do 


Reservoir 9 feet square by 4^ feet 


87 




Foot of terrace. 
Slope 


deep supplies 2 houses; issues 
from a ledge. 
Unfailing. 


99 




51 : 

60 

54 15 


Issues from cracks in rock; unfail- 


107 




do 


ing. 
Spring house. 


121 




Foot of slope.. 
Slope 


156 




SuppUes a laimdry and a horse 

trough. 
Piped to house. 
Piped to house; laifailing; for assay 

see p. 94. 
Rubble and concrete basin 6 by 10 


168 


t 


do 






175 
303 


A. S. Pons 

0. H. Robertson... 


do 

do 


54 
60 


(a) 






feet; frame coop; piped to house. 



a Fills a f-inch pipe. 



94 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

Below are given two analyses and four assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Bristol. These waters are low in total solids and 
soft and are suitable for most domestic and industrial purposes. 
They would form little scale in boilers and would not cause foaming. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Bristol. 

[Parts per million; samples collected Nov. 17, 1915; S. C. Dinsmore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns 
refer to corresponding numbers on PI. Ill or fig. 20; see also records corresponding in nxomber, pp. 88-93. J 





Analyses.a 


Assays. 6 




c30 


95 


62 


175 


290 


d293 


Silica (SiOz) 


18 
«.31 
4.8 
1.1 

£^1.5 
7.6 


14 

.05 
13 
3.8 

5.6 
.0 

44 
7.4 
7.0 
8.0 

76 
/48 

59 

15 

Ca-COs 

Good. 
Good. 










Iron (Fe) 


0.50 


Trace. 


Trace. 


Trace. 


Calcium (Ca) 




Magnasium (Mg) ..... 










Sodium and potassium 
(Na+K)/ 


2 



48 

Trace. 

5 


9 



66 

Trace. 

9 


14 

46 
10 
17 


5 


Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCOs) . . . 




66 


Sulphate radicle ((SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI) 


2.1 

1.5 


Trace. 
5 


Nitrate radicle (NO3) 




Total dissolved solids 


A 37 

/16 

34 

5 

Ca-COs 

Good. 
Good. 


/64 

43 

60 
(0 

Ca-COs 

Good. 
Good. 


/86 
49 
65 
20 

Ca-COs 

N 

Good. 

Good. 


/97 
45 
60 
40 

Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 


/80 


Total hardness as CaCOs 

Scale-forming constituents /. . . 
Foaming constituents / 

• 

Chemical character 


51 
65 
10 

Ca-COs 


Probability of corrosion; 

Quality for boiler use 


N 
Good. 


Quality for domestic use 


Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 
& Approximations; for methods used and reUabihty of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Sample collected Dec. 12, 1895; analyzed by R. H. Chittenden; recalculated from hypothetical combina- 
tions in grains per U. S. gallon to ionic form in parts per million. 
d Sample collected Nov. 19, 1915. 
e FezOs+AlzOs. 
/ Computed. 
ff Determined. 
A By summation. 
t Less than 10 parts per million, 
i Based on computed value; N=noncorrosive; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

Bristol and ForestviUe are supplied with water by the works of the 
Bristol Board of Water Commissioners, which in 1914 took over the 
property of the Bristol Water Co., a private corporation organized in 
1884. Water is delivered by gravity from reservoir No. 1, near the 
west boundary of the town half a mile north of Terryville station. 
The pressure ranges from 30 to 130 pounds to the square inch. The 
reservoir was constructed by damming a stream, floods 28.12 acres, 
and has a capacity of 57,000,( 00 gallons. A 500,000-gallon concrete 
reservoir and a 180,000-gallon steel standpipe on Federal Hill, north- 
east of Bristol, are connected with the mains of Bristol for supplying 
ForestviUe. Regulating valves half a mile east reduce the pressure 
for the mains in ForestviUe. Reservoir No. 3, which floods 4J acres 
about 1^ miles northwest of reservoir No. 1 and has a capacity of 



BUKLINGTON. 95 

800,000,000 gallons, diverts water from Poland River into mains 
which carry it to reservoir No. 1. Reservoir No. 2 is on a small 
tributary which enters Poland River farther upstream, about a mile 
north of the Plymouth-Harwinton town line, has a capacity of 
107,000,000 gallons and floods 1 1 acres. Reservoir No. 4 was made by 
enlarging Gridley Pond on Poland River a mile north of reservoir 
No. 2. The dam is of the concrete core-wall t3rpe and floods 42^ acres 
with 249,000,000 gallons. The water from reservoirs Nos. 2 and 
4 is carried to No. 3 in an open brook. The area of the drainage 
basins that supply reservoirs Nos. 2, 3, and 4 is about 7^ square 
miles. According to Mr. A. W. Jepson, superintendent of water- 
works, there were in 1914 about 41 miles of mains, 133 hydrants, and 
1-,961 service taps, and the consumption was 1,236,000 gallons a day. 
When the waterworks were taken over by the city it was estimated 
that with an increase of population proportional to that from 1900 
to 1910 the supply would be adequate for 25 years. It is now 
about double the consumption.^^ 

At Polkville there is a small communal water supply in the expense 
and benefits of which eight families share. Water is conducted from 
the flume below the mill pond to the west by means of a 1 i-inch lead 
pir.e. Branch pipes, of -j^-inch size, conduct water from the main 
line to cisterns in the houses, from whicn water is pumped. As the 
pipe is of lead it has been found impracticable to carry water to the 
upper stories. Mr. George S. Osborn, who supplied the information, 
estimates the annual expense of maintenance at not over $5. 

BURLINGTON. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES.. 

Burlington is near the middle of the west boundary of Hartford 
County and lies west of Collins ville and Union ville. The east bound- 
ary in part follows Farmington River and in part approximates the 
margin of the highlands. Most of the west boundary is about on the 
divide between Naugatuck and Farmington rivers. The town has 
an area of 31 square miles, of which about three-fourths is wooded. 
There are settlements at Burlington, Whigville, and Burlington Sta- 
tion. At Burlington there is a church and general store. The New 
Hartford branch of the Northampton division (Canal Road) of the 
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad follows the Burlingtoji 
shore of Farmington River and has a station at Burlington Station. 
There are about 55 miles of road in the town, all of dirt construction. 
Many of the grades are high, and southeast of Burlington village the 
roads are very sandy, but elsewhere they are fairly good. The road 
from Burlington Station to Harwinton by way of Burlington is par- 
ticularly well cared for. 

*^ Report of the city clerk, treasurer, etc., of the city of Bristol for the year ending Sept. 1, 1914, p. 80. 



96 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



The territory of Burlington was taken from Bristol in 1806 and 
made a new to\vn. Burlington has suffered less loss of population 
than many of the Connecticut highland towns. The population in 
1910 was 1,319, which is equivalent to a population density of 43 
per square mile. The maximum population, 1,467, was recorded in 
1810, when the town was first coimted separately. The population 
has been held by the factories at Collinsville and Urdonville, which 
have given employment to the people. 

ropulation of Burlington, 1810 1o 1910.fi 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1810 


1,467 
1,360 
1,301 
1,201 


1850 


1,161 
1,031 
1,319 
1,224 


1890 


1,3^2 


1820 


1860 


liXK) 


1,218 
1,319 


1830 


1870 


1910 


1840 


1880 











o Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 652. 

The principal industry of Burlington is agriculture, though many 
of the inhabitants work in the factories at Collinsville and Unionville. 



SURFACE FEATURES. 

Most of Burlington is a plateau 900 to 1,000 feet above sea level, 
above which rise a few higher hills and ridges. In the northwest 
corner of the town the plateau is fairly well preserved, but elsewhere 
it is deeply cut by valleys, and on the east the slopes descend steeply 
to Farmington River and to a small area of lowland in the southeast 
corner. The general highness of the to^vn is due to the resistant 
character of its bedrocks, but it is more dissected than regions farther 
from the central lowland or from master streams. The topography 
has been modified by glaciation, the elevations having been worn 
doA\Ti and the depressions filled in. Southeast of Burlington village 
there are extensive deposits of stratified drift, which seem to be 
similar to the stratified drift of the Pequabuck Valley in Bristol. 
(See p. 83.) The extent of these stratified-drift deposits, which form 
a little plain aroimd Burlington village, is shown on Plate II. Back 
of the church at Burlington village is a fine kettle hole, 200 or 300 
feet in diameter and 25 feet deep, formed by the melting away of a 
block of ice stranded in the stratified drift. A photograph of this 
kettle hole is reproduced in Plate V, B (p. 84). 

The southern part of Biu-lington is drained by the waters of trib- 
utaries of Pequabuck River, the largest of which feeds the Wliig- 
ville reservoir of the New Britain Board of Water Commissioners. 
The flow of this stream was estimated ou July 15, 1915, at 1 § second- 
feet. Parallel to this stream and half a mile west is a second un- 
named brook which on the same day flowed about 1 second-foot. 



BURLINGTON. 97 

These streams unite IJ miles south of the Bristol line to form North 
Branch of Pequabuck River. Marsh Pond Brook, in the southwest 
corner of Burlington, feeds into Marsh Pond, which discharges into 
the Pequabuck at Terry ville. A quarter of a mile from the east, 
boundary and a mile from the south boundary of Burlington is a 
pond whose outlet was estmiated on July 14, 1915, to flow 1 J second- 
feet and ultimately discharges into Farmington River o])posite 
Unionville. A mile below the pond the outlet is joined by a small 
stream which on the same day was estimated to discharge 0.75 
second-foot. 

Burlington Brook drains more of the town than any other stream 
and flows from the northwest corner across the town and joins the 
Farmington at Burlington Station. A careful estimate made half a 
mile above its mouth on July 20, 1915, indicated a flow of 1 1| second- 
feet. The discharge of Punch Brook, which enters Burlington Brook 
a little above Burlington village, was estimated on July 8, 1915, at 
2} second-feet. The next tributary upstream, entering Burlington 
Brook from the south, was estimated on the same day to flow nearly 
2 second-feet. 

Parallel to the north edge of the town is Phelps Brook, which IJ 
miles west of its junction with Farmington River is joined from the 
south by Clear Brook. Gagings made for the Hartford Board of 
Water Commissioners^^ show a minimum flow for 1913 of about 1.2 
second-feet, or 0.220 second-foot per square mile in the drainage 
basin (5.4 square miles), in the month of August. The maximum 
flow was 270 second-feet, or 52 second-feet per square mile, and was 
measured on October 26 and 27, soon after a fall of 6.6 inches of rain. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

There are four varieties of bedrock in Burlington — the Triassic red 
sandstone, Bristol granite gneiss, Hoosac schist, and Waterbury 
gneiss. 

Sandstone. — The Triassic red sandstone is restricted to a triangular 
area of less than a square mile in the southeast comer of the town. 
The rock is the basal portion of the Triassic and is dominantly 
sandstone and conglomerate. No wells have been drilled into this 
formation in Burlington, but the probability of success is good. 
Wells in Farmington and Bristol that penetrate similar rocks obtain 
satisfactory supplies. 

Gneiss and scMst. — ^The Bristol granite gneiss, which imderlies 
about a square mile in the valley in which Whigville is situated, is 
a grayish rock composed of quartz, feldspar, and black mica. 
Mashing has concentrated the mica in layers that alternate with 



« Hartford Board of Water Commissioners Sixtieth Ann. Rept,, p. 49, 1914. 
187118°— 21— W8P 466 7 



98 GKOUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



layers containing little mica, so that the rock has a fairly pro- 
nounced gneissic structure. Water has not been obtained from this 
rock m Burlington, but undoubtedly it could be, for in the town of 
Bristol a number of drilled wells procure water from it. 

The two remaining bedrock formations may be discussed together, 
for the Waterbmy gneiss is believed to be a modification of the 
Hoosac schist, due to the injection of much pegmatite, amphibolite, 
and granite. These materials are normally found in the Hoosac 
schist, but they are so abundant in this neighborhood that they 
quite alter the character of the rock, and a separate classification 
seems justified. 

The Hoosac schist is a typical mica schist composed of flakes of 
mica (both black and white), in many places altered to sericite and 
chlorite, and grains of quartz and feldspar. Mashing has recrystal- 
lized the original constituents of the rocks and parallelly oriented the 
mica flakes and concentrated them in bands along which they readily 
break. The forces to which this cleavability is due also made many 
larger joints and fissures, in which water undoubtedly circulates. 
This water, which is derived by percolation from the overlying 
mantle of soil, could undoubtedly be recovered by means of drilled 
wells, though no such development has yet been made in Burlington. 
In other towns (Hartland, Plymouth, Prospect, and Wolcott) there 
are drflled wells which obtain satisfactory supplies from this for- 
mation. The probability of obtaining water from the Waterbury 
gneiss is equally great, but drilling may be more expensive on account 
of the quartz and pegmatite veins, which make the operation diffi- 
cult and slow. 

Till. — The distribution of the two types of glacial drift is shown on 
Plate II. Till is the material formed by the plowing and scraping 
of the glacier and consists of a thoroughly mixed mass of debris of 
all kinds of material in fragments which range in size from rock flour 
to big boulders. It may be considered a matrix of sand, silt, clay, 
and rock flour in which boulders, cobbles, and pebbles are embedded. 
Between the smaller particles are interstices that are capable of 
absorbing rain water, of storing it, and of giving it out agaki to dug 
weUs. Wells dug in till will yield moderate and fairly reliable 
supplies of water unless they are unfavorably situated. Forty-eight 
wells dug in till were measured in Burlington; the average depth of 
water was 12.6 feet, though the depth ranged from 2 feet in well 
No. 31 (see PI. Ill) to 37.6 feet in well No. 63. The maximum 
fluctuation of the water table was in well No. 32, which fads, though 
it had 14.6 feet of water when it was measured (July 20, 1915). Well 
No. 61, which is said to be nonfailing, has the least fluctuation, for 
although the fore part of the month had been rather rainy it had only 



BURLINGTON. 



99 



1.6 feet of water on July 15, 1915. About half of these wells are not 
deep enough to reach below the lowest level to which the ground- 
water table sinks, and they fail in prolonged droughts. Probably 
many of them could be deepened so that their supplies would be made 
permanent. It is better to abandon a rock-bottomed well that fails 
and to dig another well in a more favorable place or to drill a well 
than to deepen by blasting. 

There are a nmnber of springs in Burlington which derive their 
water from till. Most of these are on slopes above the houses to which 
they appertain, and their water is piped in by gravity. 

Stratified drift, — Stratified drift is a water-laid deposit formed by 
the reworking of the materials of the till. The various sizes have been 
sorted and laid in separate beds and lenses. Because of the elimi- 
nation of the fine particles from the interstices of the larger particles 
the porosity of stratified drift is greater than that of till, so it absorbs 




jt_U 






Figure 21.— Relations at well No. 29, Burlington. 

and transmits water more readily, but it will not store water as long 
if its topographic situation is unfavorable. The 20 wells dug in 
stratified drift that were measured m Burlington show greater 
rehability than the wells in till, as only 5 of them fail. The depth 
to water in them averages 19.1 feet and ranges from 7.9 feet in well 
No. 22 (see PI. Ill) to 60 feet in weUNo. 29; the greatest fluctuation 
of the water table was 5 feet in well No. 29, and the least 1.4 feet in 
well No. 32. 

Well No. 29 shows the effect of a disadvantageous topographic 
situation. It is about 100 feet ba.ck from the brink of a terrace 30 
feet high, below which is another terrace 200 or 300 feet wide and 
about 35 feet high. After heavy rains the water which falls on the 
flat area back of the well soaks through the ground and supplies the 
well. After some time it passes completely by and the well fails. 
The well seems paradoxical m its behavior, for often it fails during 
a rainy spell because the last wave of ground water has passed and 
the new one has not yet reached it. Similarly during a dry season 
the lagging water from the last rains may reach the well when other 
wells are failing. The relations in this well are shown in figure 21. 



100 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
RECORUS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug welh ending in till in Burlington. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
IIL 



Owner. 



1 
2 
3 

4 

6 

6 

8 

9 

10 

12 

13 

14 

16 

18 
19 

23 



31 

32 
33 
34 
37 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
54 
55 
56 
57 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 

66 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 
74 



Topo- 
gi-aphic 
position. 



L.F.Turner. 
G. N. Merrill. 



Charles Nilsen . . 



Slope. . . 
...do... 
...do.... 
Valley - 
Slope. . . 

...do 

Plain... 
...do.... 
...do.... 



Slope.. 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 



...do.. 
Plain. 



Slope.... 



...do..... 
...do..... 
...do..... 
Valley. . 
Slope. . . . 

...do 

...do 

...do...-. 

...do 

...do 

...do 

..do 

...do 

...do 

..do 

Plateau . 
Slope.... 

..do 

..do 

..do 

..do 

..do 

..do 

..do 

..do 

..do 

Plain.... 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



...do... 
Swale. 
Slope.. 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 



Knoll... 



Feet. 
930 
925 
900 
985 
935 

1,055 
905 
890 
880 
970 

1,080 
790 
790 

910 
850 

815 



700 
630 
660 
680 
845 
480 
430 
395 
420 
430 
540 
655 
590 
585 
1,050 
935 
720 
740 
720 
930 
840 
510 
410 
480 
530 
460 
415 

*400 
470 
460 I 
565 ' 
550 I 
500 
306 I 



Depth 
of well. 



Feet. 
13.8 
15.2 
1&4 
15.0 
13.0 
16.6 
25.6 
18.4 
29.4 
7.6 
13.7 
21.6 
20.3 

15.8 
3^3 

17.0 



4.5 
16.9 
10.0 
17.2 

9.2 
28.5 
17.9 
25.3 
27.5 
32.0 
12.1 
17.9 

ia8 

13.8 
27.0 
18.5 
39.1 
13 

20.5 
20.2 
12.3 
38.7 
18.6 
20.4 
40.1 
6 
10.7 

17.8 
20.1 
17.0 
20.3 
9.4 
14.1 
24.4 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 

10.8 

9.1 

8.4 

10.5 

4.9 

6.7 

17.1 

13.6 

24.5 

5.2 

9.4 

16.3 

17.8 

11.0 
20.6 

12.8 



2.0 
2.3 
8.0 
14.8 
4.2 



15.4 
24.5 
21.7 
13.5 

8.1 
14.1 
14.0 

6.2 
19.2 

7.1 

8.1 

9 

12.5 
12.2 

6.0 
32.6 
17.0 
19.0 
37.2 

4 

8.0 

16.0 
15.9 
12.8 
10.9 
5.3 
3.8 
20.8 



Method of lift. 



Sweep rig 

Chain pump 

do 

do 

"VVTieel and axle ring. 

Pitcher pump 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

Deep-well pump 



Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig and 
house pump. 

Windlass rig 

(«) 



Remarks 



Chain pupip . 



Gravity system . . 

WindlassVig 

Deep-well pump . 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Pitcher pump 

Chain pump . . . . . 
Two-bucket rig... 

Chain pump 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 



Deep- well pump . 

House pump 

(«^ 

Windlass rig 

do 

Hoiisepump 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig. . 
House pump 



Windlass rig. 

Sweep rig 

do 

Chain pump . 

do....... 

do 



Abandoned. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 



Abandoned; unfail- 
ing. 

Unfailing: at house; 
rock bottom; for 
analysis see p. 102. 

Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails; rock bottom. 
Fails: tiled. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Do. ft 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Unfailing: tiled. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Abandoned. 
Unfailing. 

Unfailing: aban- 
doned. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Do, 
Unfailing. 



<' Xo rig. 

b Rock bottom: great fluctuation; response of water level 6 to 8 weeks behind rains. 



BURLINGTON. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Burlington. 



101 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


7 




Slope.... 
...do 


Feet. 
780 
945 
800 
800 
810 
820 
815 
815 
820 
810 

790 
500 
650 
455 
710 
705 
710 
375 
280 


Feet. 
25.6 
22.9 
17.2 
27.8 
11.2 
15.0 
16.0 
18.5 
35.0 
65.0 

60.0 
15.9 
16.0 
13.2 
14.3 
21.3 
19.8 
15.1 
20.2 


Feet. 
11.3 
21.1 

9.9 
24.0 

7.9 
12.0 
11.5 
14.2 
31.7 
60.0 

55.0 
14.5 
14.2 
8.4 
8.2 
16.2 
15.9 
11.0 
15.3 


Windlass 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


11 




do 


?0 


:::::;:;:::::::;::i:::do:;::: 


do 


Do. 


?1 




Plain . . . 
Slope.... 
Plain... - 

Slope 

...do 




Abandoned. 


22 
?4 


G.N.Merrill.... 


Chain pump 

Windlass 


Fails. At bam. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 


?5 




do 


9.7 




do 


Unfailing. 

Fails. 

Fails; for assay see 

p. 102. 
Fails. 


28 
29 

30 


L. F.Turner 

F. H.Stone 


Plain.... 
Edge of 
terrace. 
Plain.... 
Slope.... 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 

do 


38 




Sweep rig 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


39 




Windlass 


40 




...do.:... 




Partly filled in. 
Unfailing. 
Do. 


53 




Plain.... 
...do 


Deep-well pump 

Windlass 


58 




59 




...do 


do 


Do. 


67 




...do 


House pump 

Windlass 


Do. 


73 


E.W.Hart 


...do 


Unfailing; for assay 
see p. 102. 







Springs in Burlington, 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


15 


E. S. Gillette 


Slope.... 


Feet. 
900 

890 

730 
720 
860 


"F. 

48 

51 
48 


Gallons. 
2.5 

5 


Piped to house and barn; un- 
failing; for analysis see p. 102. 
Piped to house; for assay see 


17 


F, TT, TTiTiTinaTi 


do 


26 




do 


p. 102.a 
Piped to house. 


35 


J. W. Keeler 


Swale 


Piped to house; unfaiUng. 


36 


Chas. Nilsen 


do 


49 


6 


Unfailing. 











a Reservoir blasted in rock ledge; supplied from one principal seam and three lesser ones. 
QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and three assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Burlington are given in the subjoined table. The 
waters are soft, low in mineral content, and of calcium-carbonate type. 
They are suitable for all common uses and good for use in boilers. 



102 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Burlington. 

[Parts per million; samples collected Nov. 23, 1915; S. C. Dinsmore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns 
refer to corresponding niunbers on PI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 100-101.] 



Silica (Si02) 

Iron(Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na+K) d 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI; 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOs 

Scale- forming constituents d 

Foaming constituents d 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion « 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 



Analyses.^ 



15 



17 

4.1 

3.0 

Trace. 

36 

dl8 

24 

6 

Ca-COs 

(?) 
Good. 
Good. 



23 



15 

6 
1 

4 

27 
6. 
3. 

50' 

d24 

37 

12 



Ca-COa 

(?) 
Good. 
Good. 



04 
5 
8 
6 
.0 

9 





Assay s.b 



17 



0.20 



Trace. 



19 
Trace. 

3 



d36 

21 

35 
Trace. 

Ca-COs 
(?) 

Good. 

Good. 



29 



Trace. 



Trace. 



24 

Trace. 

7 



d47 

31 

45 

Trace. 

Ca-COs 

Good. 
Good. 



c73 



Trace. 



4 



46 

Trace. 



d68 
40 
55 
10 

Ca-COs 

(? ) , 
Good. 
Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations: for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Sample collected Nov. 17, 1915. 

d Computed. 

e Based on computed value; ( ?)=corrosion uncertain. 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

Burlington has no public water supply, though 20 families near 
Collins ville are supplied by the Collinsville Water Co. Some of the 
drainage basins of the town have been developed by Hartford and 
New Britain. A 60,000,000-gallon reservoir at Whigville provides 
water for the high-pressure system of New Britain. Surveys have 
been made for the board of water commissioners of New Britain for 
an additional supply in the upper part of the drainage basin of Bur- 
lington Brook. Part of the new 8,500,000,000-gallon Nepaug reser- 
voir, which is now under construction for the board of water commis- 
sioners of Hartford, is in Burlington and will use the water of Phelps 
and Clear brooks. If it becomes necessary to develop a water 
supply for Burlmgton the problem will be difficult, as most of the 
possible reservoir sites are now occupied. The best way of utilizing 
the ground-water supply seems to be the indirect method. Reser- 
voirs of the streams which enter Bmiington Brook from the south 
would receive continued contributions of ground water from the 
bodies of stratified drift above. 

CANTON. 



AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Canton is near the middle of the western boimdary of Hartford 
County, about 10 miles south of the Massachusetts line, and is on 
the eastern edge of the western highland of Connecticut. To the 



CANTON. 



103 



west are New Hartford and Barkliamsted, and to the south is Avon. 
In addition to CoUinsville, the principal settlement, which is in the 
southern part of the town, there are small settlements at Canton 
Center, North Canton, Canton, or Canton Street, as it is locally 
called, and Cherry Brook. There are post offices at all these settlements 
except Cherry Brook. The town has an area of about 3 1 square miles, 
of which two-thirds is wooded. The State trunk-line highway of bi- 
tuminous macadam between Avon and New Hartford passes through 
Canton and Cherry Brook, and other macadam roads join CoUinsville 
to Canton and to Cherry Brook. In addition to these roads, which 
have a combined length of 9 miles, there are about 90 miles of dirt 
roads. The road from Cherry Brook to Canton Center and North 
Canton is good, as it has been extensively graveled and graded. 
The New Hartford branch of. the Northampton division (Canal Road) 
of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Eaihoad crosses the south- 
west comer of the town m Farmington River valley and has a station 
at CoUinsville. The Central New England Railway crosses the 
southern part of the town and has stations at Canton, High vStreet, 
CoUinsville, and Cherry Brook. The CoUinsville station is at the end 
of a spur track three-quarters of a mile long which joins the main 
line at High Street. A stage with a star postal contract carries the 
mail daily between Cherry Brook, Canton Center, and North Canton. 
Canton had a population of 2,732 in 1910. In 1806 the territory 
was taken from Simsbury and incorporated as a separate town. The 
population increased rather steadily up to 1870; then it fell off for 
one decade but again increased so that the last census return was 
the greatest. It is probable that the population will be retained or 
be increased in the future. 



Population of Canton, 1810 to 1910. 0' 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1810 


1,374 
1,322 
1,437 
1,736 


1850 


1,986 
2,373 
2,639 
2,301 


1890 


2,500 
2,678 
2,731 


1820 


I860 


1900 


1830 


1870 


1910 


1840 


1880 











a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 652. 

The principal industries of Canton are farming and the manu- 
facture at CoUinsville of heavy edge tools, such as axes, adzes, plows, 
and machetes. The manufacturing has been the means of main- 
taining and increasing the population and has been made possible 
by the water power -provided by Farmington River and the excellent 
transportation route down the valley. The farmers raise general 
crops principally, but there is some tobacco growing and dairying. 



104 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONK. 



SURFACE FEATURES. 



K O 
UJ O 

ul in 



bJ O 



o 

" 1 1 " ■ " " I '.'.'I 



jiHnasms_ 






^^ 






ICS-^ 



i^ 



Most of Canton is a deeply dissected upland and is somewhat 
rugged. The east boundary follows the general trend of an almost 

continuous trap ridge, just west of which 
is a series of north-south valleys that 
separate the trap ridge from the iipland. 
The southeast comer of the town is a 
lowland 1 J miles wide, above which rises 
Mount Horr and Huckleberry Hill. 
Rattlesnake Hill separates this lowland 
from the valley of Cherry Brook, which 
drains most of the upland. The highest 
point in the town is at the north end of 
Ratlum Mountain and is 1,200 feet above 
sea level. The lowest point, on Farm- 
ington River near CoUinsville, is 300 feet 
above sea level. 

The broad valley between Moxmt Horr 
and Huckleberry Hill drains in both 
directions from a very low divide near 
Canton. It is possible that the Farming- 
ton formerly flowed through this valley 
and then southward along Roaring Brook 
valley, or perhaps eastward on the north 
side of Pond Ledge Hill. At its west end 
the floor of this valley merges with the 
flood plain and terraces of the Farming- 
ton Valley, which in turn merges with 
the flood plain and terraces of Cherry 
Brook. Between Cherry Brook and the 
New Hartford town line the terraces on 
the east bank of Farmington River widen 
out to about half a mile. Formerly the 
Farmington flowed near the east side of 
this terrace area, but in glacial time it 
was diverted into a new channel at 
Satans Kingdom, which it has cut down 
to make a narrow gorge with walls about 
100 feet high. 

Figure 22 is a structure section across 
Canton and Simsbury Gine C-Cj' PI. II) 
g| I S " and shows the various topographic 

elements. At the east boundary of 
Canton is the trap ridge, which includes a couple of peaks with 
special names descriptive of their form — the Sugarloaf and the Hedge- 
hog. West of the ridge is the sandstone valley, and farther west the 
dissected upland. 



i^OOJgr/Cu^gn^ 









K<f<^ 



c 
Era 

^5 



m^ 



't^<^^ 



^m 






II M II I M 



TTTT 







mi. 



CANTON. 105 

Most of the streams in Canton ai"e tributary to the soutliward- 
flowing reach of Farmmgton River, though the northeastern part of 
the town is dramed by streams that cross Simsbury and enter the 
northward-flowing reach. One of these, Stratton Brook, had a dis- 
charge of about a third of a second-foot on September 18, 1915. 

The southeast comer of Canton is drained by the headwaters 
of Roaring Brook, which crosses Avon and joins the Farmington at 
Unionville. A float measurement of this stream made half a mile 
above the State road joining Avon and Canton on July 9, 1915, 
showed a flow of about 3.5 second-feet. 

Cherry Brook is the largest stream in the town east of Farmington 
River. It flows from a point a little north of the northwest corner 
of the town through North Canton and Canton Center and joins the 
Farmington between Satans Kingdom and Collinsville. A float 
measurement of this stream on September 15, 1915, a mile south 
of North Canton showed a flow of 1.4 second-feet. The next day 
a measurement near Canton Center gave a flow of 1.7 second-feet. 

Nepaug River drains that part of the town southwest of Farming- 
ton River. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

In Canton there are fom* varieties of bedrock — the Hoosac schist, 
CoUinsville granite gneiss, and sandstone and trap of Triassic age. 

Schist and gneiss. — ^The oldest of the formations is the Hoosac 
schist, which underlies the whole town except a strip along the east 
edge and the southern part of the town east of the Farmington. 
This rock is composed chiefly of flakes of light and dark mica, which 
give it its silvery gray color and its fissile structure, and granules of 
quartz. The rock is believed to have been originally a series of 
shales and clayey sandstones which have acquired their present 
character through metamorphism. The forces which produced these 
mineral and textm^al changes have also fissured the rock extensively. 
The fissure system is very intricate, and the openings are connected 
with one another in a very complicated way. Many of the fissures 
reach the surface of the rock, and water seeps into them from the 
overlying soil. No wells which obtain water from this formation 
were found in Canton, but elsewhere drilled wells procure satisfactory 
supplies from its fissures. 

Mount Hon* and Huckleberry HiU and the valley west of Mount 
Horr are underlain by the granite gneiss, which is composed essen- 
tially of grains of feldspar and quartz with flakes of mica, together 
with subordinate amounts of garnet and hornblende. Two varieties 
are recognized, the difference between them being due to difference 
in the amount of mica. The mica has been concentrated in certain 
bands by metamorphism, and gives the rock its gneissic texture. 
The whole mass is cut by numerous dikes and veins of unmetamor- 
phosed granite and pegmatite. Like the schist, the granite is fis- 
sured, but probably not so extensively. Although no wells that draw 



106 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



from this rock were found, there is sufficient probabihty that a drill 
hole would cut one or more water-bearing fissures in it within a 
reasonable distance to justify drilling. 

Trap rock. — The ridges along the east boundary of Canton are 
capped by trap rock, which underlies the eastern slopes and forms 
cliffs at the top of the western slope in m'any places. The conditions 
for water in the trap are about the same as in the granite, as the joints 
are of about the same size and abundance. However, the trap is 
difficult to drill, as it is very tough, and because of its resistance to 
weathering it stands up as high ridges, a disadvantageous position. 
Most water falling on the ridges flows away instead of soaking in, so 
that the supply of water to fissures in trap is both small and uncertain. 

Sandstone. — ^Underlying the trap ridges and the valleys west of 
them is red sandstone, which is, however, exposed only in a few 
scattered outcrops. The sandstones were deposited as a series of 
sand, silt, and gravel beds, but the grains have been cemented by a 
mixture of iron oxide and clay \^T.th a little lime carbonate, so that 
a firm rock resulted. The beds were originally horizontal, but they 
have been tilted so that they dip 15° or 20° to the east, and have also 
been broken into blocks. They were extensively jointed and frac- 
tured in the process of tilting. Mr. Case's well (No. 55, PI. Ill) 
was originally a dug well reaching bedrock at a depth of 29 feet. As 
it used to fail Mr. Case had a hole drilled in the bottom and very 
fortunately cut a water-bearing fissure in the sandstones after drilling 
only 14 feet. It is probable that to improve any weU in the sand- 
stone area deeper drilling would be necessary. 

Till. — Till, which mantles most of the town except the areas of 
rock outcrop, is a product of direct glacial action. The ice sheet 
that moved in a southerly direction across New England broke off 
and ground off a great deal of the bedrock, and this material was 
carried along and ground up and mixed together. Finally it was 
deposited as a heterogeneous, compact, and firm mixtinre of all sorts 
of materials in fragments of a great variety of sizes from fme rock 
flour and clay up to large boulders. The till is moderately porous 
and capable of holding some ground water. In places it was partly 
washed and stratified by the water that flowed under the ice. A 
lens of such material, if penetrated by a dug weU, will generally 
yield an abundant and reliable supply of water. Fifty-seven wells 
dug in tiU were measured in Canton, and of these 19 were said to 
fail. The depth to water in the 57 wells ranged from 0.8 foot in 
weU No. 51 (see PI. Ill) to 26.4 feet in weU No. 59; the average was 
10.5 feet. The greatest fluctuation of level noted was in weU No. 
36, which fails, although it had 14.2 feet of water when it was meas- 
ured in September, 1915. 

A number of houses along Cherry Brook and in other parts of the 
town are supplied by gravity from springs in till. 



CANTON. 



107 



Stratified drift, — Stratified drift is the surface material along parts 
of Cherry Brook and in the valleys of Roaring Brook and Farmington 
River where it forms terraces and flood plains. 

The stratified drift of Cherry Brook is the excess debris carried by 
the small, swdft tributaries which the slower main stream was unable 
to transport. The deposits along the Farmington and along Roaring 
Brook are partly similar and partly the waste washed out from the 
front of the ice sheet as it receded from this region. The stratified 
drift is composed of beds and interlocking lenses of well-washed and 
highly porous silt, sand, and gravel. Wells in the stratified drift, 
unless situated on steep slopes from, which the water may seep away, 
yield supplies which are abundant and reliable. Twenty-one wells 
dug in till were measm^ed in Canton. None of these was said to 
faU, but the reliability of two was not ascertained. The depth to 
the water level ranged from 5.4 feet in well No. 80 (see PL III) to 
28.8 feet in well No. 88; the average was 13 feet. 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS, 

Dug wells ending in till in Canton. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 



Owner. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Depth 
of well. 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Method of lift. 



Remarks. 



32 

33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
41 

42 
43 

44 



29 Albert Bond 



30 
31 



N. Canton P. O. 
A. W. Sweeton.. 



S. W. Lamphier. 
W.S.Humphrey 



H. P. Foote. 



Slope. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 



..do-... 



...do.., 
...do.. 



Hilltop. 



...do..., 
Slope. . , 

...do 

...do..., 
...do.... 
...do-.., 
...do.-.. 
Slope. . . 

Hilltop. 
Slope.. . 
..-do.-.. 



46 Case Plain 



Feet. 
870 
940 
930 
920 
750 
700 
630 
750 
610 
510 
525 
625 
995 
730 
700 
855 
800 
740 

710 

665 
680 

665 

650 
670 
675 
810 
560 
410 
420 
405 

575 
570 
460 

440 



Feet. 
12.6 
16.3 
15.1 
14.5 
10.0 
11.6 
10.4 
16.5 
20.8 
16.0 
12.8 
19.9 
18.0 
20.7 
12.9 
9.4 
15.1 
11.2 

19.5 

11.5 
14.5 

12.8 

16.4 
20.4 
10.4 
23.0 
15.0 
22.0 
22.8 
17.3 

27.8 
24.4 
18.2 

19.0 



Feet. 

7.7 

11.2 

55 

8.1 

8.5 

9.6 

6.4 

8.0 

12.9 

10.7 

10.3 

12.8 

11.4 

17.5 

5.7 

6.8 

9.9 

5.6 

11.8 

5.2 
7.0 



9.9 

12.8 

6.9 

8.8 

11.2 

17.1 

20.9 

9.0 

12.8 

8.5 

11.5 

12.4 



Windlass rig 

do 

do 

do 

.('') 
Sweep ng 

(a) 

Chain pimip 

do 

Windlass rig , 

do 

Siphon 

Windlass rig 

do 

House pump 

(a) 
Windlass rig 

Pitcher ptunp and 

house pump. 
Deep- well pump 



Chain pump - . 
Windlass rig 
house pump. 
Windlass rig... 



and 



Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 

No rig 

Chain pmnp 

do 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Deep- well pump. - . 
Windlass and pul- 
ley rig. 
Windlass rig 



Fails. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Abandoned. 
Fails; rock bottom. 

Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Unfailing: for assay 
see p. 109. 

Unfailing. 

Unfailing: for assay 

see p. 109. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails; rock bottom. 

Do. 
House abandoned. 
UnfaiUng. 

Do. 
UnfaiUng: for assay 

see p. 109. 
Unfailing, c 

Do. 
Fails.d 

Unfailing. 



a No rig. 

b High point of siphon is 13 feet above water level and 25 feet above house. 

c Depth to water varies from 4 to 24 feet: temperature 53° F. 

d Well at least 125 years old. 



108 GROUND WATER IH SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONK. 





Dug wells ending in till 


in Cantor.' — Continued. 




No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


« 
Remarks. 


48 




Slope... 
...do.. . . 


Feet. 
455 
700 
710 
635 
565 
505 
360 
485 
610 
625 
425 
600 
760 
750 
875 
900 
440 
350 

400 
400 
350 
367 
360 


Feet. 
19.7- 
15.4 
10.1 
24.2 

6.0 
16.7 
14.4 
16.0 
15.7 
33.0 
10.5 
11.4 
30.1 
20.9 
16.9 
10.4 

9.8 
19.0 

13.0 
15.0 
28.8 
14.8 
19.4 


Feet. 

16.0 
8.5 
0.8 

14.5 
3.6 

11.8 
9.6 

11.5 

10.8 

26.4 
8.6 
8.3 
9.4 
8.1 

11.9 
6.6 
6.3 

16.0 

7.3 
10.1 
25.3 

9.1 
17.2 


Chain ptLmp 

Windlass rig 

Chain piomp 

Windlass rig 

(a) 

Windlass rig. 

..do. 




50 





Unfailing. 
Fails 


51 




...do 


52 




...do 


Do 


63 




do. . . 


Do 


54 




.do 


Do 


56 




..do 


Unfailing. 
Do 


57 




..do 


..do. 


58 




...do 


..do. 


Fails 


59 




..do 


Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

do. 


Unfailing. 
Fails 


61 




...do 


62 




...do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


63 




Hilltop.. 
Slope... 
...do 


Chain pmnp 

Pitcher pinnp 

House pump 


64 




Do. 


65 




Fails. 


66 




Plateau. 
Slope... 
...do 


Do. 


67 




Chain pump 

Deep- well piimp and 

house pump. 
do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


70 




74 




...do.... 


Do. 


75 




...do 


do 


Do. 


76 




...do.... 


do 


Fails: abandoned. 


79 




...do 


Chain pump 

One-bucket rig 




89 




Hilltop.. 











a No rig. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Canton. 



No. 
on 
PL 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


11 




Slope.. . 
Terrace . 
...do 


Feet. 
360 
390 
390 
395 

395 
420 
320 
320 
325 
310 
315 
350 

325 

335 
340 

335 
335 
335 
325 
325 
325 


Feet. 
11.4 
22.8 
10.3 
12.6 

18.6 
11.3 
18.4 
13.9 
12.7 
11.0 
19.3 
23.2 

9.4 

8.3 
9.2 

14.3 
20.0 
16.0 
19.4 

""36.'2' 


Feet. 

1.1 

18.8 

8.4 

8.7 

16.4 

9.0 

11.5 

10.7 

9.6 

7.4 

17.6 

18.8 

6.7 

5.4 
6.8 

12.2 

17.7 

9.0 

9. 3 

32. 0(?) 
28.8 


Gravity system 

Chain pump 

House pump 

Windlass 


Unfailing. 


12 




Do. 


13 




Do. 


14 


John Allen .. 


Slope.. . 

Plain... 
...do 


Unfailing; for anal- 
ysis see p. 109. 
Unfailing. 


40 


do 


45 




Chain pump 

do 

Windlass 




68 
69 




...do.... 
do . . 


Do. 


71 




...do 


House pump 

Two house pumps. . 
Windlass 


Do. 


72 




...do 


Do. 


73 




.. do 


Do. 


77 




Slope.... 
Plain.... 
...do 


Chain pump 

Air-pressure sys- 
tem. 

Chain pump 

Chain pump and 
power-driven cyl- 
inder pump. 

Two house pumps.. . 

Windlass 


Unfailing; aban- 


78 




doned. 
Unfailing. 


80 




Do. 


81 




...do 


Do. 


82 




...do 


Do. 


83 




...do 


Do. 


85 




...do 


Pitcher pump 

Windlass 


Do. 


86 




...do 


Do. 


87 




...do 


Electric pump 

Deep- well pump 


Do.o 


88 




...do 


Do. 











o 400 to 500 gallons used a day. 
Drilled well in Canton. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Elevation 
above 

sea 
level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Water- 
bearing 
forma- 
tion. 


55 


Case . . 


Slope.... 


Feet. 
370 


Feet. 
43 


Feet. 
29 


Inches. 
6 


Gallons. 


Gneiss. 











CANTON. 



109 



Springs in Canton, 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 



OwBer. 



Topo^aphic 
position. 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 



Yield 

per 
minute, 



Eemarks. 



6 
17 
19 
20 

26 
47 
49 
60 

84 



Chas, B. Quick. 
Case 



Gra-Rock Spring WaterCo, 



Slope 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Swale 

Slope 

Foot of slope . 



Feet. 
925 
625 
690 

1,065 
840 
530 
580 
500 
325 



op 

53 

56 

54 

58 
56 

58 
54 
58 

47. £ 



Gallons. 



(a) 



Unfailing. 

At roadside. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 

Unfailing; for analysis see p. 109. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 

Unfailing; for analysis see p. 109. 



a Spring walled with concrete. Water piped under gravity pressure to bottling works. Flow of 
57,000 gallons a day; equivalent to 40 gallons a minute. 

QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and three assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Canton are given in the following table, together 
with the recalculation of an analysis published on the labels under 
which water is shipped for sale from Gra-Rock Spring. The waters 
are all low in mineral content, ranging from 32 to 140 parts per mil- 
lion of total dissolved solids. All are very soft waters; No. 84 is the 
softest and No. 29 the least soft of the Canton waters analyzed. They 
are all of the calcium-carbonate type, except Nos. 26 and 32, which 
are of the sodium-carbonate type, and No. 29, which is of the cal- 
cium-chloride type. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Canton. 

[Parts per million; samples collected Dec. 2, 1915; analyzed by S. 0. Dinsmore. Numbers at heads of col- 
umns refer to corresponding numbers on PI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 107-109.] 





Analyses.a 


Assays, ft 




14 


26 


c84 


29 


32 


41 


Silica (Si02) 


13 

.40 
7.5 
2.4 
6.4 

.0 
22 
6.9 
6.0 
11 
59 
«29 
39 
17 

Ca-COs 


9.0 

.04 
7.0 
2.9 
9.1 

.0 
29 

.5.7 
8.0 
10 
63 
e29 
34 
25 

Na-COa 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 


14 

d.l9 
2.4 
1.1 

(0 

7.7 








Iron (Fe) 


0.50 


Trace. 


0.50 


Calcium (Ca) 




Magnesium (Mg) 








Sodium and potassium 
(Na+K)e. 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) . . . 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (Cl) 


21 


54 

5 
43 


21 


68 

5 
19 


Trace. 


34 


1.8 
1.2 


5 
5 


Nitrate radicle (N O3) 




Total dissolved solids 


ff32 

«11 

23 

8 

Ca-COs 

N 

Good. 

Good. 


el40 
68 
85 
50 

Ca-Cl 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 


Clio 

45 
60 
60 

Na-COs 

N 

Good. 

Good. 


«60 


Total hardness as CaCOs 

Scale-forming constituents «... 
Foaming constituents e 

Chemical character 


39 

55 

Trace. 

Ca-COa 


Probability of corrosion h 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 


(?) 

Good. 

Good. 


(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, .see pp. 59-61. 
b Approximations; for methods used and reuabiUty of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Date of collection of sample and analyst unknown; authority, label under which water is shipped. 
Becalculated from hypothetical combinations in grains per gallon to ionic form in parts per million. 
d Fe203+ AI2O3; sample contained a large amoimt of suspended iron, 
e Computed. 

/ Determined; Na=2. 3 and K=0. 8 part per million. 
g By summation. 
h Based on computed value (?)= corrosion uncertain; N= noncorrosive. 



110 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

Collinsville has been supplied by the CoUinsville Water Co. since 
1904. Water was obtained at first from springs on Huckleberry 
Hill, with which two covered reservoirs of 30,000 and 65,000 gallons 
capacity were connected. Later a concrete core-wall dam about 
10 feet high, flooding 2f acres and giving a storage capacity of 
2,500,000 gallons, was built on Nepaug River. The company has 
11.5 miles of mains which supply water under gravity at a pressure 
of 80 pounds to the square inch. Twelve fire hydrants and 231 
domestic service taps are supplied, and the average daily consumption 
is 145,000 gallons. Part of the reservoir that is being constructed on 
Nepaug River and Phelps Brook for the Board of Water Commis- 
sioners of Hartford will be in Canton. 

CHESHIKE. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

The town of Cheshire is in the north-central part of New Haven 
County, about 15 miles north of the city of New Haven. The princi- 
pal settlement is Cheshire village, which is central in position and is 
composed of two parts, Cheshire and West Cheshire, so built up 
as to be almost continuous. Mixville is a small settlement in the 
western part of the town. There are post offices and stores at 
Cheshire and West Cheshire. The Northampton division (Canal 
Road) of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Raihoad runs 
through the town and has a station at West Cheshire and a flag 
station at Brooksvale, in the southern part of the town. The 
Meriden-Waterbury branch of the same railroad crosses the town 
from east to west and has flag stations at Cheshire Street, Southing- 
ton Road, West Cheshire (separate from that on the Northampton 
division), and Summit. Cheshire is on the New Haven & Waterbury 
trolley line and is connected with the Meriden-Southington, Plain- 
ville & New Britain line at Milldale by a short branch. 

The area of Cheshire is about 32 square miles. Woodlands are for 
the most part restricted to the hilly western part of the town and 
cover about 8 square miles. There are about 110 miles of roads, 
most of which are of dirt construction and well cared for. Some of 
the roads in the western part have bad grades, and some in the 
central part are sandy. The road which paraUels the Northampton 
division was originally part of the New Haven and Farmington 
turnpike and is now a State trunk-line road. 

Cheshire was originally part of Wallingford, but was incorporated 
as a separate town in 1780. In 1827 a little of the western part 
was cut off to form part of the town of Prospect. In 1910 Cheshire 
had a population of 1,988. 



CHESHIRE. 

Population of Cheshire, 1782-1910. a 



111 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1782 


2,015 
2,337 

2,288 
2,288 
2,281 


1830 


1,780 
1,529 
1,626 
2,407 
2,344 


1880 


2,284 


1790 


1840 


1890 


1,929 


1800 


1850 


1900 


1,989 


1810 


I860 


1910 


1,988 


1820 


1870 













o Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 653, 

The loss of population in the decade from 1820 to 1830 was due to 
the cession of territory to form Prospect. About the middle of the 
century there was considerable mining of barite (barytes, or heavy 
spar), which probably accounts for the rather large population in 
1860, 1870, and 1880. It is said that hundreds of miners were 
employed.^^ During the period that the Farmington canal was in 
operation (1827-1847) West Cheshire was a port for Waterbury and 
other manufacturing centers in the Naugatuck Valley. Although there 
is some manufacturing in Cheshire it is not a typical manufacturing 
to"svn. The population probably will not grow much in thef future 
b"ut will continue, as in the last three decades, to fluctuate a little. 

The principal industry in Cheshire is agriculture, which is carried 
on in fruit orchards, market gardens, and nurseries for forest trees. 
There is some manufacture of brass at West Cheshire and at Mixville. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Central and eastern Cheshire belong to the lowland province of 
Connecticut, comprising a rather level plain with low hills, but 
western Cheshire is part of the rugged western highland. The lowest 
point in the town is where Quinnipiac River crosses the east bound- 
ary, at an elevation of 100 feet above sea level. The highest point 
is the crest of Mount Sandford, in the southv/est corner of the town, 
which is about 920 feet above sea level. This mountain is part of 
an intrusive trap sheet which extends, with a few interruptions, from 
New Haven to a point a little north of Mlldale and forms the back- 
bone of West Rock Ridge and its northward continuations. The 
sheet is thickest at Mount Sandford and therefore makes this point 
relatively high. North of Mount Sandford the sheet thins, and in 
Cheshire the outcrop becomes broken and in Southington, near 
Plantsville, dies out altogether. 

Parallel to the southern part of the east boundary of Cheshire is 
a narrow dike of trap rock, about 20 feet wide and 4 miles long, 
known as Bristol Ledge. Like the trap of Mount Sandford it is of 
intrusive origin, but it was forced into a fissure that cuts the beds of 
sandstone instead of following them. About midway it is cut by a 
transverse dike. The ridges formed by these dikes are topographi- 
cally prominent, for although they are not very high they are steep 

« Beach, J. B., History of Cheshire, Conn., p. 273, 1912. 



112 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

sided. Associated with the trap rock of the dikes is some copper, but 
it is so scanty that it has not been successfully mined. 

The hills of the lowland part of Cheshire are gently rounded and 
not over 150 feet high. Their position and general shape were deter- 
mined in preglacial time by normal weathering of rock of varying 
resistance. The ice sheet modified their forms by smoothing off the 
sharper angles and filling in the depressions with debris. The hills 
were left with smooth outlines and a mantle of till over their rock 
cores. Subsequently the hills were partly buried by stratified drift, 
which forms a very level plain above which rise the gently rounded 
sandstone hill and the steeper trap ridges. 

West and northwest of Mixville the plain is bounded by the steep 
front of the western highland, which is underlain by more resistant 
rocks that have maintained a relatively high elevation despite erosion. 

The southern part of Cheshire is drained by several branches of 
Mill River, which flows southward and enters Long Island Sound at 
New Haven. Mill River is one of the principal sources of supply of 
the New Haven Water Co. The northern part of Cheshire is drained 
by three tributaries of Quinnipiac River. Tenmile River has its 
headwaters in part in the highland and in part in the basin between 
the highland and the trap ridge, in which Mixville is situated. 
Broad Brook joins Quinnipiac River at Cheshire Street, and on it 
is a recently constructed reservoir of the Meriden system having a 
capacity of 1,200,000,000 gallons. Honeypot Brook enters the Quin- 
nipiac about midway between Tenmile River and Broad Brook, and 
its headwaters are in a rather narrow and deep valley, the southern 
part of which is occupied by one of the headwaters of Mill River. 
It is probable that the Quinnipiac in preglacial time flowed south- 
ward through Cheshire to New Haven along either the Honeypot 
and Mill River vaUey or the broader depression which the railroad 
foUows, instead of taking its present roundabout course through 
Meriden and WaUingford. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

In Cheshire ground water is obtained both from the consolidated 
bedrocks and from the overlying till and stratified drift. The bed- 
rocks include the Hoosac schist and Prospect porphyritic granite 
gneiss, which underlie about 4 square miles in the western part of the 
town, and the sandstone and trap of Triassic age. 

Schist and gneiss. — The Hoosac schist, so called because of its type 
exposure at Hoosac Moimtain, Mass., crops out here and there in a 
strip a mile wide along the Waterbury boundary of Cheshire. It is 
composed essentially of flakes of mica, both light and dark, and 
granules of quartz, in addition to which garnets and a few other 
minerals are found as auxiliaries. The mica flakes are arranged 
roughly paraUel to one another and so give the rock its highly fissile, 
schistose character. The minute openings between the mica flakes 



CHESHIRE. 113 

are to a large extent filled with water that has percolated into them 
from the overlying mantle of soil, but the larger and more extensive 
fissures that transect the rock in many directions are far more effec- 
tive as storage spaces and as channels of circulation for water. 

The porphyritic granite gneiss is a grayish rock consisting essen- 
tially of bands of granular quartz and feldspar separated by darker 
layers in which biotite (dark mica) is the dominant mineral. There 
are many larger crystals of feldspar which attain a maximum length of 
2h, inches and which give the rock its porphyritic character. Since the 
original consohdation of the rock it has been subjected to mechanical 
stress, which has produced many extensive fissures and joint openings. 

No wells that derive their supply from either the gneiss or the 
schist were foimd, but there is good probability of success in 
drilling into these rocks. It has been found elsewhere in the State 
that ''not less than 90 per cent of the wells sunk in the crystalline 
rocks have given supplies sufficient for the use required." ^^ 
' Sandstone. — ^The sandstones and shales which underlie the central 
and eastern parts of Cheshire are tilted so that the bedding planes 
dip 15°-20° E. They are cut by many joints and fissures that were 
formed by the jarring incident to the tilting. ^ A number of drilled 
wells and a few dug wells draw water from such cracks. No part 
of this formation seems to be sufficiently porous to carry, water in 
the interstices between the grains. Information was obtained con- 
cerning 26 weUs driUed in these rocks, and their depth was found to 
average 75 feet. The probability of success for drilling operations 
in the Triassic sandstone area of Connecticut has been estimated at 
about 94 per cent.^^ It is considered ''good practice to abandon a 
weU that has not obtained satisfactory supplies at 250 to 300 feet." 

Till. — ^Till mantles most of the surface of Cheshire above an eleva- 
tion £>f 160 to 180 feet above sea level, and forms a layer as much as 
30 feet or even more in thickness. It is a dense mass of tough clay 
or rock flour with some silt and sand and boulders of various sizes. 
The constituents of the till have no regularity of arrangement. Part 
of the water that falls as rain is absorbed into its minute pores. 
Though the upper part of the tiU may be devoid of water after long 
droughts, there is in general a good deal in the lower parts. Wells 
dug in deposits of this sort have fairly abundant and fairly reliable 
supplies of water. In some exceptional places the tUl has been 
worked over by water so that it is more pervious and yields larger 
and more reliable supplies. The average depth to water in the wells 
dug in till that were visited in Cheshire is 14 feet, the range being 
from 3.1 feet in well No. 26a (see PI. Ill) to 35 feet in well No. 

^■* Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-supply Paper 232. p. 92, 1909. 
« Idem, p. 130. 

187118°— 21— wsp 466 8 



114 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

68a. Information as to the reliability of supply was procured for 
30 of the wells, of which 17 were said to be reliable and 13 were said 
to fail. Well No. 39 indicated an unusually great fluctuation of the 
water table, for although there was 17.2 feet of water in it v/hen it 
was measured (April 21, 1915) it is said to fail. This fluctuation of 
17.2 feet or more is probably due to the location of the well on a steep 
slope from which the water drains readily. 

Stratified drift. — Stratified drift covers the bedrock of the lower 
parts of Cheshire. It is composed of well-washed and sorted sand, 
silt, and gravel which were carried out from the ice sheet by the great 
streams of melted ice during its recession from the region. As a 
result of the washing the pores are larger and connect better with one 
another than those of till, and consequently the water circulates more 
rapidly. Forty wells dug in stratified drift were visited and meas- 
ured. The greatest depth to water was found in well No. 55 (see 
PL III) and was 46 feet. This well is near the edge of a terrace, a fact 
which probably explains the great depth. Well No. 8Y, in which the 
minimum depth of 5.2 feet was found, is, on the other hand, on a 
broad plain where there is less chance for the ground water to flow 
away. The average depth to the water level in these wells was found 
to be 16.4 feet. The reliability of 35 of them was ascertained, and 
of these 25 were reported to be nonf ailing and 10 were said to fail 
more or less regularly in dry seasons. 

RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

• Information was collected concerning 85 dug wells, 2 driven weUs, 
30 drifled wells, and 8 springs in Cheshire. 







Dug tuells 


ending 


in till 


in Cheshire. 




No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 
to 

water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


2 




Plateau 

Slope. . . 
...do 


Feet. 
665 

540 
420 
340 
240 
220 
240 
205 
290 
200 

220 
■ 230 
250 
255 
265 
260 
255 
250 

250 
215 
255 


Feet. 
22.4 

11.1 
14.0 
14.0 
24.5 
13.2 
30.3 
24.7 
16.2 
16.2 

31.0 
25.7 
15.0 
18.7 
24.8 
15.8 
24.1 
24.8 

13.3 
32.8 
22 


Feet. 
15.6 

8.2 

5.2 

6.4 

16.5 

9.3 

23.7 

20.3 

9.6 

8.7 

13.8 

16.2 

6.7 

9.9 

15.0 

8.7 

20.8 

18.2 

9.3 
33.6 
9 


Deep-well pump 

Two-bucket rig 

.. . .do 


Rock bottom; unfail- 


3 




ing. 


5 




Fails. 


6 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Unfailing. • 


10 




...do 


Fails. 


12 




Plain.... 

Slope 

...do 


UnfaiUng. 


13 






15 




Do. 


28 




Hilltop.. 
Slope. . . 

do 


Sweeping 


Fails. 


31 




Windlass and pulley 
rig. 


Do. 


39 




Do. 


42 




Plain. . . 

Slope. . . 

Plateau 
...do.... 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 

do 


Unfailing. 


49 




Tiled; fails. 


50 




do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


51 

52 


Mr. Woodbury . . 


do 

do 


53 




Slope 

Plain. . . 

...do 


do 




58 




Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 


15 feet in rock; un- 


60 




failing. 
Clear. 


64 




Slope. . . 
Plam. . . 


Unfailing. 


65 




12 feet in rock; un- 








failing. 



CHESHIRE. 



115 



Dug wells ending in till in Cheshire — Continued. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 



65a 

67 
70 
76 
77 
80 
84 
90 
92 
94 
96 
97 
98 

100 
101 
102 

102a 
102b 
109 
110 

111 

112 



Owner. 



Henry Metzler. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Plain... 

Slope. . 
Plain. . 
...do... 
Slope. . 
Plain.. 
Steep . . 
...do... 
...do... 
Slope. . 
Swale . . 
Hilltop 
...do... 



Slope. . 
...do... 
Hilltop. 



..do.. 
..do.. 
Slope. 
Plain. 



Slope. 
..do.. 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
soa 

level. 



Feet. 
255 



220 
260 
315 

•305 
310 
200 
220 

265 

230 



Depth 

of 
well. 



Feet. 



265 


14.7 


190 


27.6 


200 


23.4 


240 


18.8 


235 


25.4 


240 


26.4 


210 


21.8 


165 


18.8 


190 


25.1 


275 


18.9 


265 


16.2 


285 


21.9 



30.2 
12.8 
20.7 

28.5 
17.3 
23.4 
13.6 

21.9 

10.7 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 
35 

9.2 
24.5 
18.7 
15.5 
21.9 
19.9 
12.0 
16.2 
14.3 
13.6 

9.5 
11.3 

25.4 

8.5 

14.0 

18.9 

11.2 

14.2 

7.6 

13.5 

6.0 



Method of lift. 



Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 

W indlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Deep-well pump 

Two-bucket rig. ... . 
Two-bucket rig and 
house pump. 

Two-bucket rig 

do 



Windlass rig and 
gasoline engine. 

Two-bucket rig and 
house pump. 

Two-bucket rig 



Remarks. 



25 feet in rock; un- 

failing.o 
Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 
Unfailing. 



Rock bottom; fails. 
Unfailing. 



Unfailing.'' 

At house; 11 feet in 

rock; fails. 
18 feet in rock; fails, c 
Rock bottom; fails.** 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 

2 feet in rock; fails. 



o 100 feet west of well No. 65. 
*> Rock bottom; temperature 44' 



F. 



c 90 feet southwest of well No. 102. 
d 100 feet northwest of well No. 102. 





Dug wells ending 


in strat 


ified drift in Cheshire. 




No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner, 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


7 




Slope.... 
...do 


Feet. 
185 
190 
190 
185 
180 
195 
155 
220 
180 
175 
185 
185 
160 
205 
190 

155 
155 
185 

190 
130 
200 

195 
200 
125 
160 
180 
175 
165 
180 
195 
140 
190 
185 
175 
170 
155 
135 


Feet. 
20.0 
21.4 
24.5 
37.9 
33.3 
23.0 
2J.5 
18.8 
19.0 
16.1 
25.0 


'"'i2."i' 

17.4 
19.0 

25.2 
17.9 
29.7- 

20.1 
21.9 

44.8 

28.7 
20.2 
17.6 
15.1 
25.9 
18.7 
16.3 
30.3 
33.6 
18.0 
43.2 
18.6 
9.7 
15.7 
18.4 
23.1 


Feet. 

10.0 

18,6 

10,0 

29.5 

24.0 

20.1 

15.6 

15.5 

13.7 

3.1 

16.6 

9.0 

7.0 

9.2 

16.1 

23.4 
14.9 
23.1 

9.2 
19.3 
42.6 

18.7 
13.6 
15.2 
12.1 
17.1 
15.3 
13.2 
26.0 
33.0 
17.1 
]].8 
13.6 
5.2 
12.3 
15.5 
16.3 




Unfailing. 
Fails. 


8 






17 

18 


E. P. Dunham. . 


Plain... 
_. Ho 


Two-bucket rig 

Windlass 


Do 


19 


L..do 


do 


Unfailing. 


22 


...do 


Two-bucket ng 

do 


23 


_do 


• Do. 


25 




.mil 

Plain... 
Slope. . 


do 


Do. 


26 




Wheel and axle rig. . 


13 feet in rock. Fails, 


26a 




Unfailing. 


27 




Plain. .. 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 

Power pump 

Two house pumps . . 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Fails. 


29 






30 




Slope. . . 
...do. . 




37 




Unfailing. 


41 




Valley.. 

Plain. .. 
...'do... 


Ends in quicksand; 
fails. 


44 




. ...do 


46 




do 


Unfailing. 


47 




...do.. 


do 


Rock bottom; un- 


48 




do... 


...do 


failing. 
Unfaihng. 


54 


Wm. Krumm . . . 


Valley.. 
Plain. . . 

...do 


do 


Tiled. 


55 


Two-bucket rig and 
gasoline engine. 

Two-bucket rig 

House pump 

Windlass . 


Unfailing. 


56 




Do. 


67 




...do 


Fails. 


62 




Slope. . . 
...do. . .. 


Abandoned. 


68 




Two-bucket rig 

Windlass 


Unfaihng. 
Do. 


69 




Plain... 
Slope . . . 
...do. . . 


71j 




Deep- well pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Do. 


72 




Do. 


73 




...do 


Do. 


75 




Plain. -. 
. .do... 


do . 


Do 


83 




do . 


Fails 


85 




Slope. . . 
...do 


do.. 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


86 




do. .. 


87 




Plain . . . 
.. do.. 


Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 

Windlass 


Do 


89 




Do 


91 




...do 


Do 


99 




...do.... 


Fails. 



116 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Cheshire — Continued. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


, Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Ilemarks. 


108 




...do 


Feet. 
195 
165 

165 
170 
160 


Feel. 
18.9 
12.6 

10.9 
14.9 
20.0 


Feet. 
14.9 
11.1 

8.7 
13.2 
17.5 


' Two-buckot rig 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Unfailing. 


113 
114 


Warren J. An- 
drews. 


...do.... 
...do 


Unfailing; fo' anal- 
ysis see p. 117. 
Unfailing. 


115 




...do 


Fails. 


116 




...do 


do 


Unfailing 













Driven wells in Cheshire. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

in. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Ele- 
vation 
above 

sea 
level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Remarks. 


24 




Plain 


Feet. 
160 
195 


Feet. 
38 
34 


Feet. 


Inches. 


Unfailing. 


88 




do 




3 


(a). 











a An 18-foot dug well deepened by a 16-foot pipe 3 inches in diameter with 250 holes J inch in diameter: 
a 2-inch pipe inside connected to pump; yields 60 gallons a minute. 

Drilled wells in Cheshire. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Water-bear- 
ing forma- 
tion. 


Remarks. 


1 


Edwin A. Todd. 


Hill 

Slope 

Plain.... 

...do 


Feet. 
670 
515 
200 

185 
185 

185 
215 

265 
265 
240 
200 
225 
225 
265 

155 
240 
230 
195 
195 
160 

160 
200 
190 
190 
190 
320 

265 
270 

280 
280 


Feet. 
99 
67 
38 

96 
44 

"■'22""' 

69 
75 
60-f 
50 
90 
55 
320 

68 
88 
68 
56 
47 
35 

76 
56 
80 
56 
82 
60 

44 
31 

59 
85 


Feet. 
70 
4i 


Inches. 


Gallons. 


Schist 

do 

Sand and 

gravel. 
Sandstone. . . 
Sand and 

gravel. 
Sandstone. . . 
do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Sand 

Sandstone... 
do 

do 




4 


6 


li 




11 


Connecticut 
Brass Co. 




20 


84 

60 
15 

24 

IS 

9 

14 

• 


6 
6 

6 
6 

6 
6" 


""36"' 

30 

4 

30 

7 to 8 




20a 




...do 


(a). 


21 


Peck 


.do 




32 

33 
34 


E.R. Minor.... 

Glannap 

Reinhard 


Slope — 

Hilltop . 
...do 


Water enters 
at 22 feet. 


35 
36 


Wheeler 


Slope. . . . 
...do 




38 




Hilltop.. 
Slope — 
Hilltop.. 

Plain.... 
...do 

Slope 

Plain.... 

...do 

Slope 

...do 




40 
43 

46 


Gilbert Williams 
Walter Scott 

estate. 
Michael J. Gillen 
T.W.WilUams. 


'"""26" 

5"' 

10 


6 

6 
6 
6 


""'25" 




59 
60 


6 

7i 


do 

do 

do 


(&). 


74 






74a 




Siight." 
6 
6 


4 
6 

6 
8 
6 
6 




do 


(«)• 


78 


Low. 

Low. 
Large. 

' Fails'.' 


Sand and 
. gravel. 




78a 




(d). 


79 


J. B. Dill estate. 
F. J. Craigs. 


...do 

.do 




93 


Sandstone... 

do 

do 




93a 
95 


do 

J. C. Parkins. . . 
J. B. Gibson 


...do 

...do 

...do 


{')• 


103 


16 

4 
4 

10 
2 


60 

6 
6 

6 
6 


""is"" 



do 

do 

.....do 

do 

do 


For assay see 


104 
105 


Curnow Bros... 
J. Moon 


...do 

...do 


For assay see 


106 
117 


Albert LeClaire. 
E. D. Moon 


...do 

Ridge. . . 


p. 117. 



a Well No. 20 abandoned when string of tools was lost and before water was reached. Well No. 20a was 
drilled only 12 feet away and found a good supply at 44 feet in gravel. 

b Water enters at depths of 35, 40, and 85 feet. 

c Wells Nos. 74 and 74a draw from a fine sand. 

d 125 feet southwest of well No. 78. 

e Well No. 93 is at barn and 100 feet west of well No. 93a, which is at the house. 
. / Temperature is 50° F. 

g Well is only 12 feet from the " Bristol Ledge" dike of trap rock. It was drilled in part through whitish 
and bluish metamorphosed sandstone. 



CHESHIRE. 



117 







Springs in Cheshire. 








No. 

on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


9 




Slope. . . . 


Feet. 
200 
230 
320 
135 
290 
160 
130 
200 


° F. 

47 
47 
43 
49 
57 
51 
49 
49 


Gallons . 
1 

i" 

2i 


Gravity rig; unfailing. 

1)0. 

Do. 
Roadside. 
Unfailing. 

Unfailing; for analysis see p. 
Fails. 




14 




do 




16 




do 




63 




do 




66 




. ..do 




81 




do 




82 
107 


Rev. J. Trigaskis 


Foot of slope.. 
Slope 


117. 











QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

In the following table are given two analyses and two assays of 
samples of ground water collected in Cheshire. All the waters are 
soft, but No. 113 is softer than the rest. They are all of the calcium- 
carbonate type except No. 113, which is a sodium-nitrate water. 
The mineral content of all the waters analyzed is low, ranging from 
78 to 130 parts per million. 

Although low in both scale-forming and foaming constituents, No. 
113 is rated as only fair for boiler use on account of its tendency to 
corrode boilers. The owner of the well states that the water gives 
considerable trouble by corroding kitchen utensils. Nos. 103 and 105 
are also classed as fair for boiler use on account of the amounts of 
scale-forming constituents present. No. 82 is good for boiler use. 

On the basis of the mineral content all the waters are classed as 
good for domestic use, although No. 113 contains excessive nitrate, 
which may indicate pollution from surface drainage. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground loaters in Cheshire. 

[Parts jper million; samples collected Nov. 12, 1915; analyzed by S. C. Dinsmore. Numbers at heads of 
columns refer to corresponding numbers on PI. Ill ; sec also records corresponding in number, pp. 115-117.] 



Silica (SiOz) 

Iron (Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na-fK)d 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (01) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids ". . . 

Total hardness as CaCOs 

Scale-forming constituents d 

Foaming constituents d 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion / 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 



Analyses. a 



82 



15 

.05 
14 
2.8 
11 

.0 

66 

4.5 

8.0 

Trace. 

78 

d46 

61 

30 

Ca-COa 

N 

nood. 

Good. 



cll3 



14 
.20 
6.9 
2.8 
e25 
.0 
12 
20 
15 
30 
123 
d29 
39 
68 

Na-NO,! 

C 

Fair. 

Good. 



Assays. & 



103 



Trace. 



dl30 

94 

110 

20 

Ca-COs 
(?) 
Fair. 
Good. 



105 



Trace. 



6 



100 

10 

5 



dl20 

88 

100 

20 

Ca-COa 
(? 
Fair. 
Good. 



« For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 
b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Composite of two samples collected Nov. 12 and Dec. 5, 1915; analyzed by Alfred A. Chambers, U. S. 
Geol. Survey. 
d Computed. 
« Determined. 
/ Based on computed value; N=noncorrosive; C=corrosive; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



118 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

There is no public water supply serving Cheshire exclusively, but 
the New Haven Water Co. in 1914 had 166 customers in the town.^^ 
Water is supplied from the main that carries water from the Pros- 
pect reservoir to the villages in Hamden and to some parts of the 
city of New Haven. The reservoir on Broad Brook, in the northeast- 
ern part of Cheshire, is part of the Meriden system and has a capacity 
of 1,200,000,000 gallons. 

Should it become necessary to develop a fair-sized supply of water 
in Cheshire there would be two solutions of the problem. Reservoirs 
from which water could be distributed by gravity could be con- 
structed on one or more of the tributaries that come into Tenmile 
River from the west; or a pumping plant drawing from driven wells 
could be built on one of the stratified-drift plains. The driven well 
numbered 88 on the map (PL- III) yields at least 80 gallons a minute 
and shows the feasibility of such a plan. 

FARMINGTON. 

AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Farmington is near the center of Hartford County, about 10 miles 
west of the city of Hartford. Most of it is in the central lowland 
province, but a section of the valley trap ranges occupies the eastern 
third of the town. The villages of Farmington, in the center of 
the town, and Unionville, in the northwest corner, are the principal 
settlements, and at each are post offices, banks, and stores. Rural 
delivery routes serve the outlying districts. The Northampton di- 
vision (Canal Road) of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
road runs north and south through the town. Farmington Station, 
on this line, is also the junction point of the New Hartford branch 
of the Northampton division, which has a station also at Unionville. 
Farmington village and Farmington Station are connected by stage, 
and a trolley line between Hartford and Unionville runs through 
Farmington village. 

The area of Farmington is about 29 square miles. There is a large 
stretch of woodland in the southeast corner of the town and on 
Rattlesnake Mountain, which with other woods, chiefly along the 
east, north, and west boundaries, has an area of lOJ square miles, 
or about 35 per cent of the total area of the town. There are in 
Farmington about 60 miles of roads, of which 1 1 miles are State roads 
of bituminous macadam and belong to trunk lines that radiate from 
Farmington village to Plainville and New Britain, to Unionville, and 
to Hartford. Most of the dirt roads are kept in excellent condition, 

«« Connecticut State Public Utilities Comm. Rept. for 1914. 



FARMINGTON. 



119 



alt)iou^h some of tho grades in the eastern part of the town are 
severe and some of the roads in the central part are sandy. 

Farmington was fii*st settled in 1644 and was named in 1645. It 
then had an area of about 190 square miles, but the towns of Avon, 
Bristol, Bm-lington, New Britain, Plainville, and Southington and 
parts of Berlin and Wolcott have been taken from it at various times. 
In 1901 Farmington village was incorporated as tho Borougli of 
Farmington. Jn 1910 the town had a population of 3,478, of which 
897 were assigned to tho borough. Tiie following table gives the 
changes in population from the first census after the cession of Avon: 

Population of Famiington, 1830-1910 ^ 



Year. 


Population. 


Yoar. 
1860 


Population. 


Year. 


Population 


1«30 


1,901 
2,041 
2,630 


3,144 

2.01fi 
3; 017 


18fl0 


3,179 


1840 


1870 


IHOO 


3,331 


1850 


1880 • 


1910 


3, 478 











a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 653. 

The decrease in population in the decade from 1860 to 1870 was 
due to the separation of Plainville, which in 1870 had a popidation 
of 1,433. Considered together tho territory of these towns increased 
in population in this decade. The growth of Farmington has been 
moderate but fairly steady. The greater part of Farmington is a 
farming region in which many wealthy people, chiefly from Hartford, 
have fine country places. A number of sites with excellent views 
have been developed on the crests of the trap ridges. Only a moder- 
ate increase in population is to be expected in such a district. Union- 
ville, however, is a busy manufacturing place at which paper, nuts 
and bolts, cutlery, and rules and levels are made. Presumably there 
will be a steady though moderate increase in population in and around 
Unionville due to the natural growth of the manufactories. In this 
vicinity provision must be made at frequent intervals for increasing 
the public water supply. Loss attention to this phase of the water 
problem will be needed in the rest of the town. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

The topographic elements of Farmington are a central sand plain 
above which rise several rock drumlins, trap ridges along the east 
side of the plain, and a higher till-covered plain in the southeast 
corner. The total range of elevation is about 600 feet. The lowest 
point in the town is where Farmington River crosses the Avon town 
line, at about 150 feet above sea level, and the highest point is the 
crest of Rattlesnake Mountain, in the southeastern part of the town, 
750 feet above sea level. 



120 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

The Farmington sand plain occupies the strip through the cen.ter 
of the town but widens from about 2 miles at the south to about 
4 miles at the north. It may be divided into two subordinate ele- 
ments — a low flood plain and a terrace plain 20 to 40 feet higher, on 
part of which the village of Farihington is built. The sand plain is 
composed of stratified material laid down by water that ran from the 
ice sheet as it melted back from the region. A little south of Plain- 
ville an excess of this material was heaped up to a slightly greater 
height than elsewhere in the valley.^^ Whether this extra accumula- 
tion was due to a prolongation of the process during a halt in the reces- 
sion of the glacier or to the carrying in of much detritus from the west 
by Pequabuck River is uncertain. At all events, the deposits were 
heaped up at this point and blocked the valley so that a lake was 
formed on the north. Probably the small tributaries of this ancient 
lake were forced to drop their loads of detritus and so built up ter- 
race-like deltas near the shores. Although the coarser materials were 
thus deposited near the shores of the lake, the finer materials were 
carried well out into the lake before they were laid down. Deposits 
that seem to be of such origin were found in the bed of Farmington 
River a little north of Farmington village, in the construction of a 
crossing for the pipe line from the new Nepai^g reservoir to Hartford. 

A very striking feature of the sand plain is the great number of 
pitch pines {Pinus rigida) growing on it. Plate VI, A, is reproduced 
from a photograph taken about three-eighths of a mile south of Farm- 
ington Station and shows an almost clear stand of these trees. 

The till plain in the southeast corner of the town is of a very dif- 
ferent origin. It was cut to about its present form in preglacial 
time and has been since modified only by the deposition of a mantle 
of till. The present sm^ace is poorly drained and marshy by nature, 
but a canal dug southwestward from Hartford reservoir No. 4 has 
somewhat modified this condition. 

The two plains are separated by a belt of very hiUy country a mile 
or two wide, the ruggedness of which is due to the cliff-forming edges 
of eastward-tilted sheets of trap rock. The upper of the two sheets is 
the thicker (400 to 500 feet) and is known as the ''Main'' sheet, as it 
is the more prominent. The lower is thinner (250 feet or less) and 
is caUed the ''Anterior" sheet, as it crops out below the face of the 
principal cliff. The cliff formed by the "Main" sheet is highest at 
its south end, where it forms Rattlesnake Mountain, but toward the 
north it is progressively lower, and in the northeast corner of the town 
it forms only a very small ridge. This diminution of height is due to 
a large fault which cuts the ridge at a very oblique angle and so tapers 

« Davis, W. M., Triassic formation of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Rept., pt. 2, 
p. 181, 1898. 
<8 Idem, pp. 96-121, pi. 19. 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 4GC PLATE VI 




A. YELLOW PINE (PINUS RKJIDA) NEAR FARMINGTON STATION. 




B. WHITE PINE (PINUS STROBUS) NEAR GRANBY STATION. 



FARMINGTON. 121 

off the outcrop.'^ The fault presumably does not cut the ''Anterior" 
sheet, as that sheet is almost continuous throughout the town and 
forms prominent cliffs for much of its length. 

Along part of the eastern margin of the till plain is a low ridge of 
trap rock that belongs to a third trap sheet (100 to 150 feet thick), 
which is called the ''Posterior" sheet, as it crops out back of the cliff 
of the "Main" sheet. This sheet seems to be repeated on another 
low ridge a quarter of a mile to the southeast, and the recurrence is 
probably due to a small fault bearing north-northeast, the east side 
of which has been raised. Possibly the second ridge is a local sheet, 
but the evidence is hidden by the till mantle. 

The narrow area of stratified drift along the east boundary of the 
town is a portion of the great sand plain of New Britain and Newing- 
ton and is essentially like that of the Farmington Valley. 

The hiUside on which the northwest corner of Farmington lies is 
part of the western highland and is underlain by schist. It is covered 
by a mantle of tiU, as are also the two hills which rise from the central 
sand plain. One of these is northeast of Unionville and extends 
northward to Pond Ledge HiU in Avon. The second of these rock 
drumhns, or tiU-mantled rock hiUs, covers about 5 square miles along 
the west boundary of the town. They are hiUs which escaped burial 
under stratified drift. It is believed that their elevation is due to 
their being underlain by a zone of the sandstone that is coarser and bet- 
ter cemented than that beneath the sand plain. 

Farmington is drained by Farmington River and some of its trib- 
utaries, of which the chief one is Pequabuck River. The Farmington 
enters the northwest corner of the town, flows southeastward about 
5 miles, and then turns in a sweeping curve into a northward-flowing 
reach that extends about 13 miles through Avon and Simsbury. The 
flow of this stream has been studied by the Board of Water Commis- 
sioners of Hartford, who have maintained an automatic gaging station 
at Farmington village for several years. The maximum discharge 
for the year 1913 — 17,000 second-feet — occurred on October 26 and 
27, after a rainfall of 6 to 7 inches at several points in the drainage 
basin.^® This is equivalent to a discharge of 37.9 second-feet per 
square mile for the 449 square miles of tributary drainage area. The 
minimum flow for the same year occurred in August and was 0.222 
second-foot per square mile, which is equivalent to 100 second-feet 
at Farmington. 

The cour'ses of the Farmington and the Pequabuck lie mainly in 
the sand plain, where relatively few tributaries join them. There 
are more brooks entering Farmington River where it passes close to 
the till-covered lower slopes of the trap ridges. One fair-sized brook 

« Hartford Board of Water Commissioners Sixtieth Ann. Rept., p. 4."), 1914. 



122 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

rises in Scotts Swamp and flows eastward to Pequabuck River, and 
two others enter the Farmington from the southwest between Union- 
ville and the ''big bend." Two streams join Farmington River 
from the north side of the bend — Roaring Brook (see Canton report, 
p. 105) and Poplar Swamp Brook. 

The fewness of the tributaries in the sand-plain sections of these 
stream courses is due to the porosity of the soil. The water that 
falls as rain, instead of collecting in streams, soaks into the ground 
and becomes part of the ground-water body. It is probable that 
there is considerable discharge of ground water directly into those 
rivers through their beds. Springs are few in this section and are 
for the most part restricted to low marshy spots at the foot of the 
terraces. The water table is low, and the lack of permanent moisture 
in the upper soil is indicated by the abundance of dry-land vegeta- 
tion, such as pitch pine, scrub oak, and ''poverty" grass. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

The bedrocks of Farmington include sandstone, shale,' and trap 
rock of Triassic age and the much older Hoosac schist. 

Schist. — The Hoosac schist, which is restricted to a small area in 
the northwest corner of the town, is a typical closely laminated, fissile, 
light to dark gray mica schist and is composed essentially of mica 
flakes and quartz grains, with small amounts of garnet, staurolite, 
and other minerals. In some places there are many thin veins of 
quartz and pegmatite. The minute fissures between the laminae 
carry a little water but would not be as satisfactory a source of supply 
as the larger joints and fractures. No development of such a supply 
has been made in Farmington, but in other towns drilled wells in 
the Hoosac schist have obtained water from the larger cracks in 
quantities sufficient for domestic and farm requirements. 

Sandstone and shale. — The sandstones underlying the gently round- 
ed hills of the southwest corner of the town have been used to some 
extent as a source of water. These rocks are rather extensively fis- 
sured as a consequence of the movements which tilted them. Drilled 
wells are likely to intersect one or more fissures bearing water within 
a reasonable distance. The depth of eleven drilled wells in Farm- 
ington, believed to derive their supplies from this formation, averages 
178 feet and ranges from 41 to 480 feet. In choosing a site for drill- 
ing convenience is the chief consideration, as there is no way of deter- 
mining the location of underground fissures. The fissures are so 
numerous that there is a high probability of success — about 19 chances 
in 20. (See p. 113.) The fissures are more abundant near the surface 

60 Gregory, H. E.,and Ellis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 232, p. 132, 1909. 



FARMINGTON. 123 

than farther down, and it is held to be ''good practice to abandon a 
Well that has not obtained satisfactory supplies at 250 to 300 feet.^ 

Over much of the sand plain the red sandstone and shale lie at a 
depth of perhaps 100 to 200 feet, as is indicated by the Trumbull 
Electric Manufactiu-ing Co.'s drilled well in Plain ville, which reached 
rock at 218 feet. Two drilled wells in Avon have a similar signifi- 
cance: One reached bedrock at 90 feet and the other did not reach 
rock in its total depth of 85 feet. In this part of Farmington, then, 
it would not be necessary to drill to bedrock, for excellent supplies 
would be found in the unconsolidated stratified drift above. 

Trajp rock. — The trap rocks carry water in much the same way as 
the sandstones and shale but not to the same degree. On account 
of the resistance of this rock to weathering it stands up as high ridges, 
and there is great opportunity for the water to drain out of the fissures 
at lower levels. This would be particularly true of wells near the 
edges of the trap cliffs. The hardness of the trap makes drilling very 
slow and expensive, but the undertaking is worth while where other 
sources of supply are not available or are unreliable. 

Stratified drift. — Water is obtained in great abundance from the 
stratified drift by means of dug and driven wells, not only on the 
present flood plains but also on the higher terraces. The greatest 
difficulty in the construction of wells is the tendency of the very fine 
silt to behave like quicksand. Deepening a dug well through such 
silt below the ground-water level is very difficult. Large tiles of 
earthenware or cement can be used as a sort of caisson to keep out 
the silt during the digging. Another plan is to sink a drive pipe 
within the well, as was done with wells Nos. 48-B and 91. (See PL 
III.) The drive pipe should not be left in such a position that the 
screen is in silt, else it will clog badly and silt will get into and wear 
the pump. The screen should be in a bed of gravel or coarse sand. 

Of the 60 wells dug in stratified drift that were visited in Farming- 
ton, 8 were foxmd to be dry (October, 1914), 10 more were said to fail, 
and 10 were said to be nonf ailing, but the reliability of the remaining 
32 wells was not ascertained. The depth to the water in the 52 wells 
which had any water ranged from. 6 feet in well No. 13 (see PL III) 
to 19.8 feet in wells Nos. 93 and 98, and averaged 16.3 feet. 

Till. — In the till-covered parts of the town dug wells seem to be 
more successful. The reliability of 23 wells was ascertained, and 16 
were said to be nonf ailing. The very fine pores of the soil from which 
these wells draw water tend to retard the escape of water to lower 
areas, so that the water level is in many places near the surface, 
even on hills and slopes. The till is a mixture of ice- worked debris 
of all sorts and in fragments of all sizes from the finest of clay and 
rock flour up to big boulders. It was deposited directly by the ice 
without intervention of any appreciable aqueous action, else the 



124 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHIKGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

finer constituents would have been eliiiiinated and the rest sorted out 
according to size. Of the 78 wells dug in till that were visited in 
Farmington, 9 were found to be dry. The depth to water in the 
remaining 69 wells averaged 15.5 and ranged from 3.3 feet in well 
No. 150a to 32.8 feet in well No. 22. 

There are many springs on the till-covereid slopes below the trap 
cliffs. Many of these have been improved by means of small res- 
ervoirs, and their water is piped by gravity to the houses below. 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Farmington. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 
to 

water. 


Method of lift.. 


Remarks. 


14 




Slope. . . 
...do 


leet. 
260 
290 
305 
290 
310 
320 

330 
330 
350 
385 
370 
350 
350 
340 
340 
330 
320 
320 
305 
295 

280 
270 
305 
200 
220 
230 
250 
240 
230 
230 
225 
3% 
335 
335 
335 
330 
325 
325 

325 
325 
315 
310 
310 
310 
290 
300 
210 
310 

225 
220 


Feet. 
27.0 
24.5 
6.8 
22.2 
30.0 
34.7 

14.3 
19.2 
19.1 
13.7 
19.7 
20.3 
12.5 
22.4 
12.5 
22.4 
8.4 
19.0 
24.0 
16.5 

19.8 
16.7 
23.2 

9.8 
26.6 
19.0 
12.0 

7.3 
15.2 
12.6 
17.9 
16.6 
23.1 
12.8 
20.3 
11.6 
13.0 

9.0 

13.0 
12.9 
26.9 
21.8 
18.9 
32.8 
12.0 
22.6 
31.4 
19.0 

14.7 
22.3 


Feet. 

"'2i'5' 

4.3 

21.0 

"'32.' 8' 

12.2 
18.6 
18.2 
11. 8 


Deep- well pump 

do 


Pails 


15 






16 




...do 


Windla.ss 


Abandoned 


19 




...do 


House pump 

Deep- well pump 




20 




...do 


Fails. 


22 




Hilltop.. 
...do 


24.5 feet in sand- 


23 




Chain pump 

Pitcher pump 

Windlass 


stone. 


24 




...do 




25 




...do 


Unfailing. 


26 




...do.... 




27 




...do 


15.2 
12.9 
11.3 
21.0 


Chain pump 

One-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Deep-well pump 


Do. 


28 




Slope.. . 
...do 




28a 




(a). 


29 




Plain... 
..do 


30 




Reaches rock. Pails 


31 




...do 


17.9 
7.9 
16.4 
19.5 
14.4 

15.7 
13.5 

8.6 

4.4 
14.1 
12.7 
10.6 

5.3 
14.3 
10.0 
17.0 
12.0 
21.5 

9.2 
15.1 
10.8 
12.1 

6.6 

12.3 
10.2 
26.5 
]3.3 


Chain pump 


Unfailing. 
Abandoned 


32 




...do .. 


33 




...do... 


(&) 




34 




..do .. 


Windlass 


Do 


35 




Slope... 

Knoll... 
Plain.... 
Slope... 
..do 


Chain pump 

do 

do 


Unfailing; Dug into 
rock. 


36 




37 




38 




Windlass 




40 




Chain piunp 

do 




41 




...do... 


Unfailing. 


42 




...do 


House pump 

do. . . 


43 




. do . . 




44 




..do .. 




Abandoned 


46 




Valley. . 
Slope... 

...do 

Plain.. . 
..do 


House pump 

Chain pimip 

Two-bucket rig 




47 
48 
52 


Peck Bros 

do 


Unfailing. 


53 




House pump 




53a 




...do 


(d). 


54 




...do 


Chain pump 

Sweep rig 


Unfailing. 


55 




...do 


56 




...do 


Two-bucket rig 

Gasoline engine 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Deep- well piunp 


Do. 


56a 




..do... 


9-foot diameter. Un- 


57 




...do... 


failing. « 
Unfailing. 


58 




...do 




59 
60 




...do.... 
do .. 


Do. 
Do 


61 




...do 


17.8 
26.8 
11.0 
20.0 


House pump 

Deep- well pump 

Chain pump 

Windlass 




62 




do .. 




64 




Vallev.. 
Plain . . . 
Slope. . . 
. .do 

do .. 




81 




Do. 


110 






Fails. 


120 


16.5 

14.3 
19.7 


Two-bucket rig and 
gasoline engine. 

Two-bucket rig 

do 




121 






122 




..do...- 


Unfailing. 



a 100 feet south of well No. 28. Dug to rock. 

^ N rig. 

c Measured on several dates; depth of water August 15, 1914, 4.1 feet; Sept. 4, 4.2 feet; Oct. 1, 2.7 feet. 

a 25U feet east ol well No, 53. 

< 330 feet west of well No. 56. 



FARMINGTON. 
Dug wells ending in till in Farmington — (.'ontinued. 



125 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


123 
124 




Slope . . . 
...do.. . 


Feet. 
210 
320 
280 
360 
365 
380 
325 
400 
345 

350 
345 
345 
310 
340 
370 

300 
375 
365 
330 
355 
340 
300 
265 
250 
175 
340 
300 
310 


Feet. 
26.6 
31.3 
21.0 
16.3 
20.4 
14.6 
39.5 
17.1 
20.0 

12.6 
13.0 
12.5 
8.5 
15.9 
22.0 

37.1 
19.3 
19.0 
11.0 
23.1 
24.8 
7.7 
13.1 
26.6 
15.0 
46.2 
12.2 
26.0 


Feet. 
23.9 
29.0 
19.9 

"13.4' 

28. 1 . 

14.8 

19.1 

"ii.'7' 

10.7 

6.6 

14.6 

12.6 

29.2 
19.1 
16.9 

""l8."6' 
21.7 
3.3 
12.0 
17.2 
14.0 
21.6 

""i6.'3' 


Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Windmill 

Windlass 


Unfailing. 


127 




Hilltop.. 
Slope... 
...do. . . . 


Tiled. 


129 




Fails. 


130 


(a) 


Abandoned; fails. 


133 




...do 


House pump 

Chain piunp 

do 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

do 




135 




Hilltop.. 
. . do ... 




13fi 






137 




Plain . . . 
.. do 


Blasted into trap 

rock. 
Fails. 


138 




139 




...do 




1-10 




...do 


do 

(0) 




1-1 Oa 




...do 


(6). 


141 
142 




Swale... 
Slope.. - 

...do 


Deep-well pump 

Chain pump and 

windmill. 
Windlass 


143 




Unfailing. 


144 




...do 


....do.. . . 


14e 




...do 


do 


Do. 


148 




...do 


Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Deep- well pump 

Windmill 

Deep- well pump 


Fails. 


149 




Slope.. . 
. ..do. . . . 


Abandoned 


150 




Do. 


150a 




...do 


(0. 


151 




Ridge... 
Slope.. . 
Plain... 
Slope... 
...do 


152 




House vacant 


• 153 








154 






Abandoned. 


155 




Windlass 


Fails. 


156 


Hartford "Water 
Commission. 


...do.... 


Chain pimip 


For assay see p. 128. 



a No rig. 

& In barnyard, 150 feet north of well No. 140. 

c 275 feet northwest of well No. 150 and 36 feet lower. 





Dug wells ending 


in stratified dr 


ift in Farmington. 




No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Plain.... 

Slope 

. .do 


Feet. 
230 
230 
210 
260 
290 
300 
310 
185 
175 
190 
205 
280 
300 
185 

210 
230 
240 
245 
250 
255 


Feet. 
12.6 
23.5 
12.2 

9.0 
27.4 
32 
31 

12.8 
17.2 
39..9 

7.2 
21 

23.1 
13.8 

25.3 
20.1 
16.4 
21.8 
13.2 
20.2 


Feet. 
11.8 
21.8 

""h'.K 

25.2 
30 
28 
11.1 
13.2 
18.0 
6.0 

'""26." 5' 


24.6 
17.6 
14.0 
20.1 
12.1 




(a). 


3 
4 
6 
7 
8 
8a 




House pump 

Chain pump 


Unfailing. 
Fails. 






.. do 


Unfailing. 





. .do 


Windlass rig 

Deep-well pump 

do 


Do. 




...do 







...do 


w. 


10 




Plain.... 
...do 


House pump 

Chain pump 

do 




11 




Tiled. 


12 




...do 


Unfailing. 


13 




do 


House pump 

Deep- well pump 

do 


Fails. 


17 




Slope 

Hilltop . 
Slope 

Plain.... 

Slope.... 

Plain.... 

...do 


Do. 


21 






49 




House pump 

House pump 

do 


Tiled; abandoned; 


65 




fails. 


66 






67 




Chain pump 

House pump 




68 






69 




.do 


Deep- well pump . .i Fails. 


70 


';. . .. 


do 




Abandoned; fails. 


71 




...do 


255 18. 2 
250 29.1 

250 22. 7 




17.3 
26.5 

20.6 


Deep-well pump . . . 


72 




...do 


Deep-wellpump and '^<^^- 


73 




...do 


two-bucket rig. 

Chain pump 

do 




74 




...do 


250 21.4 21.2 


Abandoned. 



a A new well, not yet stoned up. Follo\ving section is exposed: Loam, 2 feet; sand, 5^ feet; gravel, 5 
feet. Ground level at the well is 12 feet above river level, 
b 200 feet south of well No. 8. 
c Oct. 12, 1914, had 2.6 feet of water; Oct. 21, had 3.8 feet. 



126 GKOUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GEANBY .AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Farmington — Continued. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


75 




Plain . . . 
..do 


Feet. 
250 
250 
205 
250 
250 
240 
205 
205 
200 
170 
170 
170 

220 
250 
185 
165 
185 
190 
200 
200 
215 
195 
190 
215 
170 
180 
160 
170 
170 

190 
180 
175 
185 
175 
165 
170 


Feet. 
14.1 
30 
15.9 
18.9 
16.6 
25.1 

• 12.3 
7.4 
11.7 
13.3 
14.9 
17.1 

10.1 
30.5 
14.5 
25.4 
31.0 
20.4 
21.4 
14.6 
16.7 
25.3 

9.1 
25.1 
19.5 
25.1 

9.0 
14.5 
19.4 

33.1 
23.4 
18.0 
15.1 
17.5 
11.0 
19.2 


Feet. 
13.3 


Chain pump 




76 




Rock bottom; fails. 


77 




...do 


14.6 
17.6 
15.4 
24.0 
11.0 
6.8 
10.2 
12.0 
13.5 
14.7 

9.5 
29.8 
12.1 

'"29." 8" 
17.9 
17.6 
14.0 
12.2 

'"'i's' 

9.9 
19.4 
21.8 

7.9 
13.0 
15.9 

""26." 6" 

12.4 
14.6 
11.1 
9.4 
16.4 


Deep-well pump. 

Chain pump 

do 


Tiled. 


78 


C. A. Alderman.. 


. .do 




78a 


do 


...do 

...do 


(«). 


82 


Chain pump 

House pump 

Chain pump 

do 


84 




...do 


Unfailing. 
Fails, b 


84a 




...do 


85 




do 




87 




do 


do 


Do. 


88 




...do 


House pump 

Deep-well pump and 

gasoUne engine. 
House pump 




89 




...do 


Unfailing. 
Tiled. 


92 




Slope.... 

Plain-.. 

...do 


93 






96 




Pitcher pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 


Do. 


97 




Slope 

...do 


Fails. 


98 






99 




...do 




100 
101 


N. H. Fossum... 


...do 

Plain.... 

Slope.... 

Plain.... 
...do 


For assay see p. 128. 


102 




Chain pump 

Two-b ucket rig 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

Two-bucket rig .... . 

Chain piimp 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Abandoned. 


103 




Abandoned; fails. 


104 






105 




Slope.... 
...do 


Abandoned. 


106 






107 
108 




...do 

...do 


(c). 


108a 
109 




...do 

...do 


Abandoned; unfail- 


111 




Plain.... 
do 


ing. 
Abandoned: fails. 


113 




Tiled: unfailing. 
Unfailing. 
Do. 


114 


Davis 


do 


do 


115 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Chain piunp 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 


116 
118 




...do 

...do 


Abandoned: fails. 
Fails. 


119 




...do 


Do. 

















a Oct. 12, 1914. had 1.2 feet of water; Oct 21, had 2.4 feet. 
^ 200 feet northeast of well No. 84-. 

c Aug. 19, 1914, had 3.3 feet of water; Oct. 13, had 2.4 feet. 
d Halfway between wells Nos. 107 and 68. 

Driven icells in Farmington. 



No. 
on PI. 

in. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Remarks. 


2 




Valley. . 

Plain... 

.do... 


Feet. 
215 
200 
200 
200 
205 
170 
160 
165 
205 
195 
325 


Feet. 
33 

■""30'"' 


Feet. 
20'' 


Inches. 




9 






50 




Water rather hard. 


83 




. .do 








84 b 




...do 


25 






(«). 


86 




...do 


25 




90 


Miss Porter's school.. 


...do.... 
...do 




91 


22.5 
33 
33 
30 






(^)- 


94 




...do 


30 




Working cylinder down 10 feet. 


95 




...do.... 




134 




...do.... 




6 


Fails. 













a Dug well 10 feet deep with a 15-foot drive pipe; 150 feet north of well No. 84. 
b Dug well 16.5 feet deep with a 6-foot drive pipe. 



FAKMINGTON. 
Drilled wells in Farming ton. 



127 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield per 
minute. 


Water- 
bearing 
formation. 


Remarks. 


5 

18 
39 


American Wril^ 
ing Paper Co. 

Seth W. Cook. . 


Plain... 

Slope. .. 
...do 


Feet. 
205 

240 
280 
240 

310 

550 

360 

320 
440 

360 

390 
340 
340 


Feet. 
430 

92 
92 
57 

152 

187 

480 

208 


Feet. 
50 

22 

25 

30 
2 or 3 

75 


Jncjhes. 




6 
6 


Onllons. 
125-130 

3 


Sandstone. 

do.... 

.do... 


Have a brass 
screen 
above rock; 
4-inch air 
lift. 

For analysis 
see p. 128. 

Water enters 


45 


Peck Bros 


. .do ... 


10-15 
80 


do.... 

do.... 


at 40 feet. 
For assay see 
p. 128. 


63 




Plain... 
Slope. . . 

...do.... 

...do.... 


112 


T. H. & L. C. 

Root. 
Miss Porter's 

school. 
C. C. Cook 


(a). 


125 
126 


6 


40+ 


Sandstone 
and shale. 


For analysis 


128 


Wm.S. Miles... 


Hilltop.. 

Slope . . . 

Hilltop.. 

Plain... 

...do.... 




6 
6 




Sandstone. 
. .do ... 


131 


44 

173 
59 
41 


12 
9 




see p. 128. 
Wind mill 


132 


Wm.J.O'Meara 
Ed. Kilborn.... 
C. F. Finneman. 






used. 


146 






Trap 

do 




• 147 


13 



















o Drilled throua;h 180 feet of trap and 5 or 6 feet of sandstone. 

i> Two flows were struck, at 425 and 475 feet, respectively; not used. 

c Water enters at 187 feet. 

Springs in Farmington. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Elevation 

above 
sea level. 


Tempera- 
ture. 


Remarks. 


51 


J. E. Thomas 


Swamp edge 

Foot of bank 

At brookside 


Feet. 
180 

290 
180 


°F. 
50 

45 


Unfailing; for analysis see 
p. 128.a 


80 




117 




Unfailing. 







a Improved with a half hogshead; pumped by windmill and distributed from tank by gravity. 
QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of three analyses and three assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Farmington are given below. Like the other ground 
waters in the area covered by this paper, those in Farmington are 
soft, although Nos. 128 and 156 have a total hardness of 178 and 
101 parts per million, respectively. While all waters containing less 
than 200 parts per million of total hardness as calcium-carbonate are 
considered soft, waters running as high as Nos. 128 and 156 are 
imusual in the area under discussion. All the waters analyzed are 
low in mineral content, ranging from 59 to 140 parts per million of 
total solids, except Nos. 100 and 128, which contain 170 and 291 
parts per million, respectively. With the exception of No. 100, which 
is of the sodium-carbonate type, the waters are calcium-carbonate 
in chemical character. All are good for boiler use except Nos. 128 



128 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



and 156, which are classed as fair for boilers on account of the amounts 
of scale-forming constituents they contain. 

So far as the quantity and nature of the mineral matter in solution 
in these waters are concerned the waters are good for domestic use. 
The high nitrate and comparatively high chloride of No. 128, however, 
indicate surface pollution. . ' 

Chemical composition and classification of ground ivaters in Farmington. 

[Parts per million; samples collected Nov. 16, 1915; analyzed by S. C. Dinsmore. Numbers at heads of 
columns refer to corresponding numbers on PI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 125-127.] 



Analyses.a 



cl8 



51 



128 



Assays.?* 



45 



100 



156 



Silica (SiOs) 

Iron(re) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium 

(Na+K)t* 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3). . . 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI) 

Nitrate radicle (N O3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOs 

Scale-forming constituents d . . . 
Foaming constituents d 



Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion c. 

QuaUty for boiler use 

Quahty for domestic use. 



10 

.04 
20 
2.9 

5.5 
.0 
44 
13 

8.0 
16 
97 
dQ2 
74 
15 

Ca-COg 

(?) , 
Good. 
Good. 



13 
Trace. 
10 
2.8 

5.6 
.0 
51 
.0 
4.0 
1.5 
59 
<?36 
47 
15 

Ca-COa 

N 

Good. 

Good. 



.04 



.0 



24 

45' 
16 

22 

126* 
39 
23 
60 

291 
^178 

180 
59 



Ca-COa 

(?) 
Fair. 
Good. 



Trace. 



Trace. 



2 



56 

Trace. 

4 



44 



131 

20 

10 



&1Q 
47 
60 
10 

Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 
. Good. 



£^170 

54 

70 

120 

Na-COs 

N 

Good. 

Good. 



0.20 



7 


134 
Trace. 

4 



dl40 

101 

120 

20 

Ca-COs 

N 

Fair. 

Good. 



o For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

i> Approxtmations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Sample collected Nov. 17, 1915. 

d Computed. 

c Based on computed value; N=noncorrosive; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

Within the town of Farmington there are two small waterworks 
which supply Farmington village and Union ville. No. 4 reservoir of 
the Hartford system is in the southeast corner of the town. 

Farmington Water Co, — ^In the early days the inhabitants of Farm- 
ington used wells almost exclusively, but later many small gravity 
systems which carried water from springs or spring-fed brooks on the 
hiUs were constructed in the eastern part of the tov/n. Various 
kinds of pipe were used — bored logs, tile pipes, lead pipe (both seamed 
and seamless), and iron pipe. One of the largest of these systems 
was that of Mr. Wadsworth, which supplied half a dozen families 
and from which the present system has grown. 

The company formally began operations in 1886 but was not in- 
corporated until 1895. In 1892 it was found necessary to build a 
good-sized reservoir part way up the north slope of Rattlesnake 
Mountain. A dam 720 feet long and with an average height of 10 



GRANBY. 129 

feet obstructs a small stream and makes a reservoir coYering about 
20 acres and with a capacity of 80,000,000 gallons.^^ In 1899 a sand 
filter covering an area 80 by 100 feet was built, as trouble had been 
experienced with algal growths in summer. The water is distributed 
under gravity through about 4 miles of main and is delivered at an 
average pressure of 65 pounds to the square inch to 33 fire hydrants 
and 166 private service taps. Most of the people in the village, 
about 1,000, use the water, and the annual consumption is estimated 
at 55,000,000 gallons." 

Unionville Water Co. — Unionville has been supplied since October, 
1893, by the Unionville Water Co. On a small brook in Avon, be- 
tween Roaring Brook and Farmington River, there are two small 
reservoirs with a combined capacity of 2,500,000 gallons. The upper 
is used for storage only, and the lower delivers water by gravity 
through about 5 miles of main to 35 hydrants and 376 private taps. 
The pressure ranges from 65 to 85 pounds to the square inch. This 
system, with a storage capacity of only 2,500,000 gallons on a very 
small brook, is inadequate for the 1,700 people in Unionville, The 
Collinsville Water Co. has about the same storage capacity but draws 
from a much larger stream (Nepaug River) and has an abundant 
supply for the 2,500 people served. It is highly desirable that some 
addition be made to the resources of the Unionville system, as water 
famines occur frequently. There are several brooks which join 
Farmington River from the southwest near Unionville, and on 
one or more of them reservoirs could be constructed. The stratified 
drift in the vaUey of Roaring Brook, northeast of UnionviUe, carries 
a great deal of ground water which could be recovered by means of 
driven wells, as it is at Plain viUe. (See p. 177.) This would be more 
expensive than the present supply, but it would be better to pay the 
price than to continue in danger of water famines. 

GRANBY. 
AKEA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Granby is near the west end of the northern tier of towns in Hart- 
ford County. There are three, principal settlements — Granby (or 
Granby Street), North Granby, and West Granby, which have post 
offices and stores. Between Granby Street and North Granby are 
two small groups of houses to which local names are given — ^Mechan- 
ics viUe and PegviUe. These hamlets are served by the star contract 
of the stage line connecting North Granby and Granby Street with 
Granby Station and Tariffville. Another stage line carries mail from 

51 Farmington, Conn., compiled by A. L. Brandegee and E. A. Smith; article on the waterworks by 
the superintendent, A. R. Wadsworth. 

52 Connecticut Pubhc Utilities Comm, Kept., 1915. 

187118°— 21— wsp 466 9 



130 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

Granby Station to Granby Street and West Granby, and also on to 
East Hartland. There is a fourth hamlet, Hungary, just east of the 
gap in Manitick Mountain, and a fifth. Bushy Hill, IJ miles west of 
Granby Street. 

Granby has an area of about 41 square miles, of which about 70 
per cent is wooded. The woodlands are mostly restricted to the 
western part of tlie town and are deciduous ; the woods of the eastern 
part consist largely of white pine (Pinus strohus). Tliere are about 
134 miles of roads, of wliich about 5J miles are macadam roads. The 
roads from Granby Station to Granby Street and West Granby and 
from Granby Street to Goodrichville are parts of the network of 
State trunk-line roads. There are in addition about 4 miles of roads 
that have been discontinued. 

Granby was part of the town of Simsbury up to 1786, when it was 
made a separate town. It then included also East Granby, which 
was cut off and incorporated in 1858. In 1910 Granby had a popu- 
lation of 1,383. 

Population of Granby, 1790-1910 a 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1790 


2,595 
2,735 
2,696 
3,012 
2,733 


1840 


2,611 
2,488 
1,720 
1,517 
1,340 


1890 


1,251 


1800 


1850 


1900 


1,299 


1810 


1860 


1910 


1,383 


1820 


1870 




1830 


1880 











o Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 653. 

The loss in the decade from 1850 to 1860 is due to the cession of 
East Granby. The population reached a maximum in 1820, and lost 
rather steadily till 1890, since when it has gained slightly. The loss 
is probably part of the general drift from the agricultural sections of 
New England to the centers of manufacturing. The recent gain is 
probably due to the development of the growing of wrapper and 
binder tobacco. Before the construction of the Farmington Canal 
in 1827 there was a little manufacturing of metal products, shoes, 
harness, and silver plate. This has died out, and agriculture is now 
the principal industry. A great deal of tobacco and considerable 
amounts of dairy products are shipped each year. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

The eastern part of Granby is a part of the central lowland prov- 
ince of Connecticut and is a rolling plain above which rise several 
prominent hills. The hills of the western half of the town are for the 
most part about 900 feet above sea level, but one flat-topped hill in 
the southwest corner rises to 1 , 1 66 feet. The lowest point inGranby is 
where Salmon Brook crosses into East Granby, at an elevation of only 
155 feet above sea level, so the total range is a little over 1,000 feet. 

The highland has a fairly straight eastern front, past the foot of the 
northern part of which Dismal Brook flows southward to North 



GRANBY. 131 

Granby. South of this point the front is more thorouglily dissected, 
and where Salmon Brook enters the lowland it is very much broken 
down. The southern part of the highland front is partly obscured 
by the Barndoor Hills and their southward prolongations, wliich 
though they belong in the lowland are nearly as high and rugged as 
the adjacent highland. 

The lowland of Granby has several divisions, the most charac- 
teristic of which is the plain of Salmon Brook and its North Branch. 
This plain is a mile or two wide and ranges in elevation from J 00 to 
300 feet above sea level. A mantle of stratified drift with a maxi- 
mum thickness of at least 75 feet covers the plain. Above it rise 
gently rounded hills with sandstone cores and a mantle of till having 
a maximum thickness of perhaps 40 feet. These hills attain ekiva- 
tions of 400 to 500 feet above sea level. The sandstones and shales 
underlying the lowland are softer than the crystalline rocks of the 
highland and have therefore been worn down to their present lowness. 
Associated with the sandstone and shale is a sheet of trap rock which 
crops out in the Barndoor Hills and in Manitick Mountain and gives 
them their t(){)ographic prominence. The trap sheet has been broken 
by faults which have caused the gaps in these hills. 

The soil of the sand plains is highly porous. It is very suitable for 
raising tobacco and in a natural state had a forest consisting in large 
part of white pines. Plate VI, B, shows a stand of white pine (Pinus 
strobus) near Granby Street. 

Two areas in Granby contain a number of eskers; one is west of 
West Granby, and one is in the northwest corner of the town and over- 
laps into Hartland. The eskers are winding ridges of stratified drift, 10 
to 30 feet high, and from a few hundred yards to half a mile in 
length. They were deposited in channels or fissures at the bottom of 
the ice sheet and have been left by the melting away of the ice. 

A ridge of till a quarter of a mile long, 50 to 150 feet wide, and 10 
to 25 feet high forms a conspicuous topographic feature just north of 
well No. 45 (PI. III). During the time that the great ice sheet was 
melting back from this region there were interruptions and even re- 
versals of this movement. It is probable that at such a time this 
ridge was built up as a lateral moraine by the temporarily advancing 

ice. 

The southern haK of Granby is drained by Salmon Brook and its 

tributaries. Above West Granby these streams are steep and swift 

but have a few slowly flowing reaches with small flood plains. 

North Branch of Salmon Brook, formed by the junction of Dismal 

Brook and East Branch at North Granby, drains the northern half of 

the town. These streams have gentle gradients for the greater part 

of their courses. On October 6, 1915, rough measurements were made 

of the discharge of these streams just above their juncture. North 

Branch showed a flow of about 9 second-feet and Dismal Brook about 

3 second-feet. A lesser tributary a mile east of North Granby on the 

same day was flowing about 1 second-foot. 



132 GROUND WATER IIST SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

ScTiist. — Western Granby is underlain by the mica schist known as 
the Hoosac schist. It is of light to medium gray color and consists 
essentially of mica and grains of quartz and in some places a little 
feldspar, garnet, or other accessory mineral. The mica flakes are 
arranged in a roughly parallel manner and by reason of their cleava- 
bility make the rock fissile. Water is carried to a slight extent by the 
minute openings between the mica flakes but more abundantly in 
the larger fractures and openings. Mr. Stevens's well (No. 40, PL III) 
was drilled below the bottom of an old dug well that was 18 feet deep, 
10 feet in solid rock. The principal supply enters the drill hole at a 
depth of 65 feet, and there is another smaller flow at a greater depth. 
The water is under sufficient head to make it rise into the dug portion 
of the well, from which it is carried by a siphon to the house, 40 feet 
lower on the hillside. No other drilled wells in schist were found, but 
undoubtedly such wells could be successfully put down somewhere 
on every farm in the western part of the town. 

Sandstone and trap. — Red sandstones and shales, dipping uniformly 
to the east with a slope of 15° to 20°, underlie the eastern half of 
Granby. These were deposited as sands and clays in the great 
valley that occupied central Connecticut in Triassic time. The deposi- 
tion was thrice interrupted by the quiet outpouring of lava, which 
eventually became the trap sheets of Talcott and East Granby 
mountains. At one time, also, there was forced into the sediments 
the lava which now forms the sheets of the Barndoor Hills and Mani- 
tick MouQtain. The tilting of the rocks occurred subsequently and 
was accompanied by extensive faulting and fracturing, in both the 
sedimentary and the volcanic rocks. The topographic form of the 
trap sheet is disadvantageous for the retention of ground water, as 
it allows water to seep away readily. Seven wells drilled into sand- 
stone were visited. Their average depth is 112 feet, and the average 
reported yield of four of them is 6 gallons a minute. 

Till. — Till is the more abundant surface rock in Granby and covers 
virtually aU of the highland as well as the parts of the lowland more 
than 260 to 300 feet above sea level. It is a layer of rock rubbish 
composed of finely ground rock flour with clay, silt, sand, pebbles, 
and boulders, all thoroughly mixed together. Below a certain depth, 
which varies from place to place and also with the seasons, the minute 
pores of the till are full of water, which will seep slowly into wells 
dug deep enough. On account of the seasonal fluctuation of the 
water level some weUs in till may fail in times of drought. Measure- 
ments were made of 42 wells dug in till in Granby. The depth to the 
water level in them ranged from 0.6 foot in well No. 82 (see PI. Ill) to 
24.4 feet in well No. 35; the average depth to water was 9.8 feet. 
Inquiries were made as to the reliability of 34 of these wells ; 24 were 
said to be nonf ailing and 10 were said to fail. In well No. 50 there is 



GRAiTBY. 



13S 



indicated a fluctuation of at least 14 feet, for although it had that 
much water in it when measured (Oct. 13, 1915) it is said to fail. 

Stratified drift. — The stratified-drift deposits are very different 
from the till. Their materials are the thoroughly washed and sorted 
materials of the till and are relatively free of the very line and the 
very large constituents. In these sands and gravels the pores are 
larger and better connected than in the till, so the supply of water 
to wells is more abundant. The plainlike deposits of stratified drift 
are the best of water bearers, but the supply in the eskers is neither 
abundant nor reliable. Measurements of 31 wells dug in the stratified 
drift were obtained in Granb}^. The depth to the water level aver- 
aged 10.3 feet and ranged from 3.1 feet in well No. 57 (see PL III) 
to 37.2 feet in well No. 69. Six of these wells were said to fail and 14 
to be nonf ailing ; the reliability of the remaining wells was not ascer- 
tained. 

RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Granhy. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 



1 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 
15 
16 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 

25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 



37 
41 
42 
46 

49 
50 
62 
76 
81 
82 

83 



Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 
to 

water. 




Slope . . . 
...do.. .. 


Feet. 
530 
705 
645 
645 
490 
430 
425 
445 
430 
410 

870 
875 
620 
1,025 
600 
980 
925 
880 

710 

560 

1,160 

1,085 

850 

600 

630 

1,110 

1,120 

370 

560 

460 

410 
300 
315 
380 

330 
445 
340 
390 
325 
325 

325 


Feet. 
21.5 
18.4 
18.1 
21.9 
24.8 
10.8 
22.4 
14.2 
12.1 
16.7 

9.4 
13.3 
15.5 
15.1 
18.5 
13.9 
16.5 

9.6 

19.8 
18. 5 
17,4 
25.9 
14.4 
8 

16.2 
14.3 
22.3 
13.1 
29.2 
15.4 

10.0 
15.0 
11.5 
12.2 

26.7 
31 

18.0 

12.6 

14.1 

9.8 

16.9 


Feet. 

19.9 

12.1 

12.2 

17.4 

9.1 

7.4 

11.7 

6.3 

7.2 

11.8 

3.2 

6.5 
5.5 
6.4 
11.6 
8.6 
7.6 
3.8 

13.7 
13.9 
12.6 
13.8 

7.3 

4 

8.5 

6.3 
18.1 
11.5 
25.4 

5.9 

7.2 
9 

6.7 
8.1 

5.1 

15 

13 
3.4 
9.5 
.6 

10.7 






...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




I'lateau. 
Slope.. . 
Hilltop.. 
Slope . . . 

...do 












...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




...do 




do .. 




...do. .. 




Hilltop.. 
Plain... 
Slope . . . 
...do 

...do 






Wm. V. Goddard 




Plain... 
do 




C. M. Beman 


Slope... 
...do 




Plateau. 

Plain... 

Slope.. . 

do. .. . 










...do 




..do 







Method of lift. 



Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

House pump 

Chain pumn 

do....: 

do 

do 

Deep -well pump 
and chain pump. 

(«) 

(«) 

Windlass rig 

do 

House pump 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 



do 

Windlass rig 

do 

Deep- well pump 

Chain piunp 

Gravity system 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

Sweep rig 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 



Windlass rig 

Deep-well pump. 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump .... 



Windlass rig. 
Windmill . . . 



Chain pump . . . 
Two-bucket rig . 
Gravity system . 

Windlass rig 



Remarks. 



Abandoned; fails. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 



Unfailing. 

Do. 
Do. 



Rock bottorn; un- 
failing. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Do. V 

Unfailing; rock bot- 
tom; for assay see 
p. 135. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Unfailing; for anal- 
ysis see p. 135. 

Unfailing. 
Do. 
Do. 
Fails. 
Fails; temperature, 

57° F. 
Unfailing. 



a No rig. 



134 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Granhy. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Elevar 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Rem.arkr>. 


2 




Plain... 
...do 


Feet. 
480 
415 
685 
655 
700 
350 

3^5 
310 
280 
315 

250 

280 

255 
260 
250 
210 
260 
230 
235 
310 
290 
190 
195 
225 
265 
215 

155 
230 
200 
190 
180 
235 


Feet. 
8.7 
9.4 

""7."7' 
12.2 
10.5 

15.7 
15.0 
13.8 
11.4 
11.5 
23.6 

10.5 
12.2 
10.0 
24.1 
13.1 
20.6 
12.7 
41.0 
23.9 
11.2 
37.6 
11.2 
15.0 
12.5 

9.6 
17.6 
19.1 
21.0 
19.8 
12.6 


Feet. 
6.7 
6.3 
16.0 
6.5 
8.8 
8.2 

10.2 

11.0 

7.0 

5.2 

8.4 

13.3 

6.3 
4.4 
3.7 

14.5 
3.1 

13.6 
8.7 


Pitcher pump 

Windlass 




9 




Unfailing. 
Do. 


17 




Slope... 
...do.... 

Plain... 
...do 


Pitcher pump 

Siphon ram 


18 


H. S, Parmelee.. 


Unfailing. 


19 


Windlass 


38 




Windlass and house 
pump. 


Fails. 


39 




...do 


Unfailing. 


43 


Mary S. Mller. . . 


Slope. . . 
...do 


Windlass 


Do. 


41 


Deep-well pump 

Windlass 


Fails. 


45 




...do.;.. 


Do. 


47 




...do 


. .do 




48 


Parsonage 


...do 


House pump 

Windlass 


Unfailing; for assay 
see p. 135. 

Unfailing. 


52 




...do 


53 




Plain... 
...do 


Chain pump 

.....do 


Do. 


55 




Do. 


56 




...do 


Windlass 


Fails. 


57 




...do 


(o) 


Unfailing. 
Fails.6 


58 




Slope. .. 
Plain... 
...do 


Windlass 


59 




Chain pump .... 


Unfailing. 


65 




Driven well. 


66 




..do 


16.4 
8.0 

37.2 
7.5 
5.0 

10.2 


Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Windlass 




68 




...do 


Unfailing. 


69 




...do 


70 




...do 


do 




72 




Hilltop-. 
Slope. . . 

Plain... 
...do 


( c) 


Do. 


74 




Windlass 


Rock bottom; un- 


75 






failing. 
Fails. 


78 




11.1 
12.1 
14.5 
18.6 
10.6 


Chain pump 

Windlass 


Do. 


84 




Slope. .. 
...do. . . . 




85 




do 




86 




...do. . 


do 




87 




Plain... 


ido 













o 8-foot diameter. Pumped with a gasoline engine. 

b Rock bottom. Water enters through drill holes in the bottom. When the well fails the supply may be 
restored by cleaning out the drill holes, 
c No rig. 

Drilled wells in Granhy. 



No. 
on PI. 

in. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Water-bear- 
ing formation. 


Remarks. 


40 

51 
54 
67 


A. A. Stevens . . 

A. F. Batavte.. 

A. B.Wells 

G. A. Smith . 


Slope. . . 

Plain. . . 
...do.... 
...do 


Feet. 
440 

280 
250 
290 
210 
210 
300 
260 


Feet. 
114 

86 

90 

50 

130 (?) 

105 

206 

114 


Feet. 
8 

15 
23 

28 
17(?) 


Inches. 
6 

6 
6 


Gallons. 
12 


Schist 

Sandstone... 

do 

do 


For anal3'-sis 
sec p. 135.1 
$2 a foot. 


71 




Slope.. . 
...do 




5(?) 

2" 

5 


do 

do 

do 

do 




73 


Wm. Myers .... 


75 

48" 


6 
6 

6 




79 

80 


F. L. Spring.... 
L. C. Spring 


Hill 

Slope... 





a Well is higher than the house and the water is carried in by a siphon, 
at a depth of 65 feet. 



Principal supply from a fissure 



GRANBY. 

Springs in Granhy. 



135 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


3 




Slope 


Feet. 
640 
260 
360 

300 

265 


op 

49 
56 
52 

56 
49 


Onllovs. 
30 


Operates 3 rams; imfailing. 


60 




.do 


Piped to house. 


61 


Almou V. Godard 


..do 


Piped to house; in red sand- 


64 




do 


stone. 
Piped to house. 


77 




..do 


Do. 











QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and two assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Granby are given below. The waters are of the 
calcium-carbonate type and are low in mineral content, ranging 
from 51 to 130 parts per million of total dissolved solids. They are 
all very soft and are classified as good for both domestic and boiler 
use. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Granby. 

[Parts per million; samples collected Dec. 4, 1915; analyzed, by S. C. Dinsmore. Numbers at heads of col- 
umns refer to corresponding numbers on PI. Ill: see also records corresponding in number, pp. 133-134.] 



Analyses. « 



c40 



46 



Assays, b 



d3G 



Silica (BiOg) 

Iron(Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodiura and potassium (Na+K)e 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCOj) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOs 

Scale-forming constituents e 

Foaming constituents e 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion ff 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 



14 

.46 
7.4 
.7 
/6.8 
.0 
29 
7.8 
1.2 
.25 
51 
e21 
37 
18 

Ca-COs 

N 

Good. 

Good. 



17 

.05 
16 
4.3 
4.3 
.0 
39 
3.7 
22 

Trace. 
82 
c58 
71 
12 

Ca-COg 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 



Trace. 


Trace. 






5 


18 








34 


61 


15 


20 


4 


15 



e73 
89 
55 

10 

Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 



el 20 
57 
70 

50 

Ca-COg 

Good. 
Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Analyzed by Alfred A. Chambers, U. S, Geol. Survey. 

d Sample collected Dec. 3, 1915. 

« Computed. 

/ Determined. 

ff Based on computed value; N=noncorrosive; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

The village of Granby Street is supplied with water by the Salmon 
Brook Water Co. Water is pumped from a small tributary of Sal- 
mon Brook and is delivered through a mile of main pipe to 62 service 
taps. Most of the people in the area covered by the service are 
supplied, and the water is used solely for domestic and farm purposes. 



136 GEOUND WATER IK SOUTHINGTOK-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

HARTLAND. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Hartland is the most northwesterly town in Hartford County and 
lies next to the Massachusetts boundary. The two largest settle- 
ments are East Hartland and West Hartland, which are east-central 
and west-central in position. There are also hamlets at Hartland 
(Hartland Hollow) and North Hartland, in the deep valley between 
the two villages, and at Centerhill, south of West Hartland. There 
are post offices at all these places and stores at East and West 
Hartland. A stage line with a star contract connects East Hartland 
with Granby Station, on the Northampton division (Canal Road) 
of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Another stage 
runs to the other settlements in Hartland from New Hartford, on the 
Central New England Railway and the New Hartford branch of the 
Northampton division. The town has an area of 34 square miles, 
about three-fourths of which is wooded. About 96 miles of roads 
are maintained by the town, and about 16 miles have been legally 
abandoned. None of the roads are metaled, but in time a State 
trunk-line road will be built across the town. 

The territory of Hartland was originally held by certain financiers 
in Hartford, and its name was chosen for this reason. The town has 
not changed in organization or extent since its incorporation in 1761. 
The population in 1910 was 544. Since 1800 a loss in population 
has been shown at ever}^ census except that of 1900. The gain of 
that decade is said by Mr. David N. Gaines, the postmaster at East 
Hartland, to have been due to the coming in of a few men for tem- 
porary employment in portable sawmills, and the strictly resident 
population decreased. Hartland is so remote from the railroad and 
its climate is so harsh that many of the residents emigrated to better 
farming country and particularly to Ohio. This emigration started 
at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and it is said that on 
Thanksgiving Day, 1802, 17 families comprising 117 people left for 
Ohio. 

Population of Hartland, 1756-1910 a 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1756 


12 
500 
961 


1820 


1,254 

1,221 

1,060 

848 

846 

789 


1880 


643 


1774 


1830 


1890 


565 


1782 


1840 


1900. 


592 


1790 


1850 : 


1910 


544 


1800 


1,318 
1,284 


1860 

1870 






1810 











a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 654. 



At no time has manufacturing thrived in Hartland, and agricul- 
ture, especially stock raising, has been the chief industry. 



HARTLAND. 



137 



WesHBranch 
Farmiriffton JiiveTr 



\m 






SURFACE FEATURES. 

Hartland is a high plateau that is only slightly dissected except for 
two deep valleys that trench it. These features are shown in the topo- 
graphic and geologic section across ^ -^ -- g 
the town given in figure 23 and indi- 
cated on Plate II by the line A-A' . 
The plateau ranges in elevation 
from 1,160 to 1,340 feet above sea 
level. Into it are cut a nxunber of 
broad but shallow vaUeys, and on 
it stand a few higher hiUs. Several 
such hills in the northwest corner of 
the town are over 1,400 feet above 
sea level, the highest being about 
1,460 feet. 

The valley of East Branch of 
Farmington River, known locally as 
Hartland Hollow, cuts the town 
into eastern and western parts. In 
flowing across the town East Branch 
drops from an elevation of 630 feet 
to 475 feet above sea level. The 
steep valley waUs are 500 to 700 feet 
high u.nd are very impressive scenic 
features. The vaUey was in exist- 
ence in preglacial time but was 
overdeepened by the glacier. Half 
a mile south of Hartland HoUow 
there is a lateral moraine, a mass of 
till plastered against the vaUey wall 
by the ice. The valley has a flat 
floor a quarter to three-quarters of 
a mile wide, formed of stratified drift 
washed in since the recession of the 
glacier. In part this plain is bound- 
ed by terraces of stratified drift 15 
to 25 feet high. The relations of the 
rock wall, the lateral moraine, the 
flat valley floor, and the terraces 
are shown in figure 24. 

The valley of West Branch of 
Farmington River for about 2 miles 
<of its length lies in the southwest 
corner of Hartland. This valley 
has been modified by glacial erosion, 
but not to so great a degree as that 



5^ 



3 g. l^??'Sit: 



I^cLStBranch 
Farmington River 



n^^^ 



138 GROUITD WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRAisTBY AREA, COHN. 

of East Branch. It is not so deep and has a narrower floor and a nar- 
rower area of stratified drift. 

There are a number of eskers and esker-like deposits in the eastern 
half of Hartland. Two eskers, a quarter and half a mile long, run 
eastward from the northeast corner of the town and end in Granby. 
A mile or two southwest of these are three eskers, each a quarter of a 
mile long, and a mile south of East Hartland are two more of like 
size. One of the finest eskers in the State runs southward from a 
point a mile southwest of East Hartland and is known locally by the 
very descriptive name The Windrow. The length of its sweeping 
S curve is three-quarters of a mile, its width is from 50 to 100 feet, 
and its height from 12 to 30 feet. The crest is narrow and unbroken. 
Plate VII, A, is reproduced from a photograph taken near the south 
end of the esker ridge and shows its serpentine character. 

On Mr. A. C. Banning's farm, IJ miles northwest of East Hartland, 
there is an excellent example of a perched boulder, a photograph of 
which is reproduced in Plate VII, B. Boulders of this type, carried 




Figure 24.— Diagrammatic profile of Hartland Hollow. 

by the glacier, rounded and smoothed by being ground against other 
rocks, and finally deposited far from their original position, con- 
stitute clear evidence of glaciation. 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

ScJiist and gneiss. — There are three kinds of bedrock in Hartland — 
the Hoosac schist, the Becket granite gneiss, and the Berkshire 
schist. The Hoosac schist underlies that part of the town east of 
East Branch of Farmington River.^^ It is a typical gray mica 
schist, and consists of flakes of mica in part infolding granules of 
quartz and of other less abundant minerals. The mica flakes are 
roughly parallel and allow the rock to spHt readily. The Becket 
granite gneiss underlies a strip 2 to 3 miles wide west of East Branch. 

63 Gregory, H. E., and Robinson, H. H., Preliminary geological map of Connecticut: Connecticut Geo], 
and Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 7, 1907. 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 466 PLATE VII 




A. THE WINDROW, AN ESKER NEAR EAST HARTLAND. 




B. PERCHED GLACIAL BOULDER OF PEGMATITE RESTLNC; UN A LEDGE OF SCHIST 

NEAR EAST HARTLAND. 



HARTLAND. 



139 



It is a grayish rock composed of lighter bands of quartz and feldspar 
alternating with darker bands in which biotito is predominant. In 
places it grades into a schist which is hard to distinguish from either 
the Hoosac or the Berkshire schist. The Berkshire schist underlies 
a strip half a mile to 1^- miles wide along the western boundary of 
Hartland. Typically it is a gray or gray-green mica schist like the 
Hoosac schist in composition, though a little more subject to weather- 
ing. All three of these formations have had thin sheets and dike- 
lets of quartz and pegmatite injected into them, and they are cut by 
numerous joints and fissures. 

The water-bearing features of these three kinds of bedrock are 
similar. Water which has fallen as rain and soaked into the soil 
slowly finds its way into the maze of interconnecting joints and fis- 
sures of the bedrock. Wells drilled into the rock are rather certain 
of cutting one or more such fissures within a reasonable depth. 
There are 'Q.yg such wells in Hartland — one in the Berkshire schist, 
and two each in the Becket granite gneiss and the Hoosac schist. 
Their average depth is 231 feet. 

Till. — There is a mantle of till over the whole town except for the 
valley-floor and esker deposits of stratified drift and the scattered 
ledges of bare rock. The till has a maximum thickness of more than 
30 feet and consists of an unassorted and unstratified mass of rock 
flour, clay, silt, sand, pebbles, and boulders deposited by the scraping 
and plowing of the glacier. It yields moderate supplies of water to 
dug wells. Thirty-five such wells were measured in Hartland, and 
the depth to water was found to average 9.7 feet and to range from 
2.7 feet in well No. 23 (see PL III), to 19.8 feet in well No. 46. Of 
the 30 weUs whose reliabihty was ascertained 20 were said always to 
have enough water for domestic needs and 10 were said to fail. 

Stratified drift. — Only five wells in stratified drift in Hartland 
were measured, and these were all on the valley-floor areas. Their 
depth averaged 11.8 feet and ranged from 8.5 feet in well No. 32 to 
18.8 feet in well No. 31, Only one of these wells is said to fail; the 
others are reliable in all seasons. 

RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Hartland. 



No. 
on 
PI 
III. 



Owner. 



Thos. Booth. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Slope. . 
Plateau 
...do... 
Slope . . 
...do... 
.. do... 
...do... 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 
1,085 
1,105 
1,275 
1,135 
1,080 
1,260 
1,180 



Depth 

of 

well. 



Feet. 
21.5 
22.4 
13.1 
16.5 
21.2 
19.3 
17.3 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 

11.9 
9.9 
6.0 
9.1 
9.1 
9.9 

10.1 



Method of lift. 



House pump. 

do 

Windlass rig . , 
Chain pump . 

do 

House pump. 
Pitcher pump 



Remarks. 



Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Do. 
Fails; for analysis 
see p. 141. 



140 GROtJKl) WATER 11^ SOtJTHmGTOK'-GIlAl^BY AHfiA, CONlT. 
Dug wells ending in till in Hartland — Continued. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 



10 
11 
14 

16 
17 

18 

20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
26 
27 
28 
29 
34 
35 
36 
37 

38 
39 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 



Owner. 



M. B. Foster. 
Wm. Martin. 



A. C. Banning. 



Store. 



D. N. Gaines. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Slope, . 
...do. . . 
Plateau 



..do. 
..do. 
..do. 



...do... 
Hilltop 
...do... 
Slope . . 
...do... 
...do. .. 
...do... 
Hilltop 
Slope . . 
Plateau 
...do... 
..do... 
..do... 



...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
Slope.. 
...do... 
..do... 
..do... 
..do... 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 
1,330 
1,205 
1,180 

1,130 
1,210 
1,190 

1,215 
1,040 
1,060 
1,015 
930 
740 
1,020 
1,095 
1,185 
1,150 
1,220 
1,225 
1,225 

1,220 
1,220 
1,110 
1,100 
1,185 
1,005 
1,030 
1,100 
1,080 



Depth 
of 

well. 



Feel. 
14.4 
15.0 

16.8 

15.6 
16.0 
21.4 

13.8 
16.7 
11.1 

8.7 
17.0 
13.2 
12,9 

9.7 
31.8 
15.4 
12,3 
13.6 
17.6 

16.1 
22.4 
11.6 
14.3 
21.4 
20.0 
19.7 
27.5 
11.9 



Depth 
to 

water. 



Feet. 

5.9 

3.0 

12.0 

5.2 

8.5 

13.9 

8.6 

9.9 

4.3 

2.7 

10.2 

11.2 

11.6 

7.5 

15.3 

10.1 

8.8 

5.0 

9.5 

8.5 
18.7 

5.2 

6.6 
15.8 
18.2 
12.6 
19.8 

5.3 



Method of liTt. 



Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig 



House pump... 

Windlass rig . . . 
Two-bucket rig . 

House pump... 
Pitcher pump.. 

(«) 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 

do 

(«) 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig . 

Windlass rig 

do 

Chain pump 



(«) 

Deep- well pump. 

Windlass rig 

do 

Deep- well pump. 
Two-bucket rig . . 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 



Remarks. 



Unfailing. 
Do. 

Unfailing; for assay- 
see p. 141. 

Unfailing. 

Fails; for assay see 

p. 141. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Uniailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Unfailing; for assay 

see p. 141. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 



a No rig. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Hartland. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
HI. 



15 
30 
31 
32 
33 



Owner. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Slope . . . 
...do.-.. 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 
630 
540 
550 
540 
530 



Depth 

of 
well. 



Feet. 
18.6 
13.4 
21.7 
16.0 
12.9 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 

12.5 

9.6 

18.8 

8.5 

9.6 



Method of lift. 



(«) - 

Deep-well pump 

Windlass 

Chain pump 

Sweep rig 



Rem?irks. 



Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 



a No rig. 
Drilled wells in Hartland. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 
to rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Water- 
bearing 
forma- 
tion. 


Remarks. 


1 


Howell 


Hilltop.. 
Plateau . 
Slope.. , 
Plateau . 
...do 


Feet. 

1,225 

1,220 

1,135 

1,215 

1,225 


Feet. 
336 
288 
220 
226 
86 


Feet. 

15 or 20 

10 

24' 

25 


Inches. 
8 
8 
6 
6 
6 


Gallons, 

(a) 
9 


Schist... 

Gneiss. 

...do 


Windmill. 


6 
12 


do 

M. B.Foster.... 
Stephen Caplan. 
F. C. Gould 


Do. 
Do. 


19 
40 


2i 
2h 


Schist... 
...do 


For analysis see 
p. 141. 



a Strong flow. 



HARTLAND. 
Springs in Hartlanxi. 



141 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Temper- 
ature. 


Yield 

per 

mmute. 


Remarks. 


13 




Slope . . . 

...do 

...do 


Feet. 
1,220 
770 
980 


53 
49 
45 


Gallons. 


Gravity system. 

Gravity system to horse trough. 


25 
48 











QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

Below are given the results of two analyses and three assays of 
samples of ground water collected in Hartland. The waters are of 
the calcium-carbonate type except Nos. 9 and 14, which are calcium- 
cliloride and sodium-chloride waters, respectively. All the waters 
are low in their content of total dissolved solids except No. 1 4, which 
according to the assay contains 300 parts per million of solids. They 
are aU soft waters; No. 14 is the hardest of those analyzed for Hart- 
land. All except No. 40 are good for domestic use; No. 40 has been 
rated as fair in this regard on account of its high iron content, which 
would probably give trouble in cooking, cause rust spots in the wash- 
ing of clothes, and stain porcelain ware. No. 14 has been classified 
as fair for boiler use on account of its rather high content of foaming 
constituents; all the other waters analyzed are good for boilers. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Hartland. 

[Parts per million. Samples of No. 40 (analysis) and Nos. 18 and 37 (assays) collected Dec. 3, 1915; No. 9 
(analysis) Nov. 16, 1915; and Nos. 12 and 14 (assays) Nov. 26, 1915. Analyzed by S. C. Dinsmore. Num- 
bers at heads of columns refer to corresponding numbers on PI. HI; see also records corresponding in num- 
ber, pp. 139-140.] 



Silica(Si02) 

Iron(Fe) 

Calcitim (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) .. 

Sodium and potassium (Na-f K)c 

Carbonate radicle ( CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle ( SO4) 

Chloride radicle ( 01) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOs 

Scale-forming constituents c 

Foaming constituents c 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion d 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 



Analyses-fi 



13 



24 
9.4 

17 

29 
119 
d58 

68 

23 

Ca-Cl 

(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



40 



17 

1.5 

7.5 

3 

6.4 

.0 

44 

5.7 

2,0 

Trace. 

67 

rf31 

44 

17 

Ca-COs 

N 

Good. 

Fair. 



Assays.6 



14 



c300 
135 
150 
160 

Na-Cl 

Fair. 
Good. 



IS 



Trace. 


Trace. 


Trace. 








58 


2 


8 











112 


24 


29 


15 


Trace. 


Trace. 


101 


3 


12 



c40 
19 
35 
10 

Ca-COs 

N 

Good. 

Good. 



37 



c59 
25 

40 
20 

Ca-COa 

(?) 
Good. 
Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Computed. 

d Based on computed value; N=noncorrosive; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



142 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

HARWINTON. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Harwinton is near the middle of the eastern boundary of Litclifield 
County, and lies between Thomaston and Torrington and midway 
between Winsted and Waterbury.' For the most part it is a rolling 
plateau, but its western margin is in the deep valley of Naugatuck 
River. The principal settlement is Harwinton, locally called the 
'^Center," at which there is a store. Campville and East Litchfield 
are small settlements along Naugatuck River and are partly in 
Litchfield and partly in Harwinton. At Campville there is a post 
office, but the rest of the town is served by rural delivery. The Nau- 
gatuck division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad 
follows the west shore of the river past Harwinton and has stations 
at Campville and East Litchfield. 

Harwinton has an area of 31 square miles, of which 70 per cent is 
wooded. There are 96 miles of roads, including 4 miles of State 
trunk-line macadam road along the Naugatuck. There are in addition 
16 miles of roads which have been legally discontinued. 

Harwinton was incorporated in 1737 and has suffered no change 
of organization or territory since. The name is said to have been 
made by combining syllables from the names of the towns from 
which the first settlers came, Hartford, Windsor, and Farmington. 
As shown by the table below the population grew steadily till 1810, 
and from then on fell off till 1890, owing to the tendency to emigrate 
to manufacturing centers and to better farming country in the West. 
Since 1890 there has been a fair growth of population, which seems 
to be due to the overflow of operatives from the active manufactories 
of Torrington. The principal industry has always been agriculture. 
Of late there has been some tendency toward the development of 
country places in Harwinton. 

Population of Harwinton, 1736-1910 A 



Year. 



1736 
1737 
1756 
1774 
1782 
1790 



Population. 



100 

161 

250 

1,015 

1,215 

1,367 





Year. 


Population. 


1800 


1,481 
1,718 
1,500 
1,515 
1,201 
1,175 


1810 


1820 


1830 


1840 


1850 







Year. 



1860 
1870 
1880 
1890 
1900 
1910 



Population. 



1,044 
1,044 
1,016 
943 
1,213 
1,440 



« Figures up to 1790 from Chipman, R. M., History of Harwinton; from 1800 to 1910 from Connecticut 
Register and Manual, 1915, p. 654. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Harwinton comprises two topographic elements, a dissected pla- 
teau and a deep valley bordering it on the west. From the top of the 
highest residual hill on the plateau, at an elevation of 1,120 feet, to 



HARWINTON. 



143 



the lowest point in the town, where Naugatuck River enters Thomas- 
ton, at an elevation of 415 feet above sea level, there is a total relief 
of 705 feet. The plateau is now marked by numerous flat hilltops 
1,050 to 1,100 feet above sea level. The plateau is believed to be 
part of one of a series of marine terraces carved by wave action 
during a period of submergence. The emergence of the land com- 
prised rapid uplifts separated by longer periods of rest during each 
of which a more or less perfect terrace was cut. From the hill 
between wells Nos. 61 and 62 (see PL III) can be seen the front of the 
next higher terrace, which lies to the northwest, as is shown by the 
photograph reproduced in Plate IV, A. In the foreground is the top 
of the dissected terrace. 

Leadmine Brook, which joins Naugatuck River IJ miles north of 
Thomaston, flows southward across Harwinton, and with its tribu- 
taries drains most of the town. Its gradient is fairly uniform except 
for a stretch a quarter of a mile long in which it makes 80 feet of its 
total drop of 350 feet in crossing Harwinton. Poland River, with 
Powder Brook, its principal headwater, drains the southern half of 
the eastern edge of the town and is part of the collecting system of 
the Bristol waterworks. A strip along the west boundary of the 
town is drained by a number of small brooks that empty into the 
Naugatuck. A number of float measurements were made on streams 
in Harwinton, and the results are given in the following table: 

Float measurements in Harwinton. 



Stream. 


Location. 


Date. 


Flow. 


• 

West branch of Leadmine Brook 

TTnTiarnfi'l broot 


Just south of Torrington town line 

500 feet west of well No. 59 


Aug. 19,1915 
July 26,1915 
July 27,1915 
Aug. 6, 1915 
July 27,1915 
July 28,1915 
do 


Sec. ft. 
1.6 
.6 


Do 


.do 


.5 


Do 


do 


i2.8 


Do 


1 mile north of well No. 69 


.5 


Do 


feelow pond, east of spring No. 52 

West-southwest of well No. 58 


.04 


East branch of Ireadmine Brook 


1.1 


Tif^aHmiTifl Brnnk , , 


\ mile west of well No. 55 


July 25,1915 
July 30,1915 
Aug. 5,1915 


&1.5 


Do 


do 


7.0 


Do 


do 


ft625 









a After a rain. 



b Estimated, not measured. 



WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

ScTiist and gneiss. — The bedrock of Harwinton has been divided 
into four formations, each of which has lithologic characters peculiar 
to it and serving to differentiate it from the others.^* 

Underlying an area a mile wide and 3 miles long, in the middle of 
which Leadmine Brook flows, is a mass of gneiss which has been called 
the Thomaston granite gneiss because of its good exposures in the 

5* Gregory, H. E., and Robinson, H. H., Preliminary geological map of Connecticut: Connecticut 
Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 7, 1907. 



144 GROUND WATER 11^ SOTJTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

town of that name. It is a fine-grained light-colored granite, com- 
posed of quartz, feldspar, and black mica, which has locally acquired 
a gneissic structm^e through metamorphism. It is probable that the 
intrusive masses of this rock are related in origin to the thin sheets 
and dikelets which are so abundant in the schistose rocks of western 
Connecticut. 

Surrounding this granite gneiss area and including most of the rest 
of the town is a gneiss of complex origla, known as the Waterbury 
gneiss. This rock was probably formed by the injection into the 
Hoosac schist of innumerable sheets and dikes attaining thicknesses 
of 10 to 12 feet. Because of the great range in the relative amounts 
of the original schist and of the material added by intrusion, the 
rock ranges from a mica schist to a gneissoid granite. 

In the northwest comer of the town there is a triangular area 34 
miles long on the Torrington town line and 2i miles on Naugatuck 
River, the northeast half of which is underlain by the Becket granite 
gneiss and the southwest half by the Berkshire schist. The Berk- 
shire schist, where typically developed, is composed essentially of 
quartz and mica (both black and white) , with lesser amounts of such 
minerals as garnet and staurolite. The mica flakes are roughly par- 
allel in position and give the rock its laminated, cleavable character. 
There are varieties in which a little feldspar is found and which ap- 
proach gneiss in texture. Other varieties are cut by many quartzose 
and granitic intrusions. The Becket gneiss, where typically devel- 
oped, is a banded gray rock composed of layers rich in quartz and 
feldspar alternating with layers high in mica. The degree of segre- 
gation of the materials and the amount of mashing the rock has 
undergone vary widely, so that some parts are almost free of schistose 
or gneissic structure and are granitic, others are gneissic, and still 
others are schistose. 

The water-bearing conditions of these four rocks are essentially 
the same. The rocks are so dense that there is little or no water in 
pores, and whatever water they may contain is in cracks and fissures, 
into which it has percolated from the overlying mantle of soil. The 
fissures and cracks were formed by the crushing and jolting to which 
the rocks have been subjected and are much more abundant and 
open near the surface than they are farther down. Only one drilled 
well was found in Harwinton, that of Mr. H. W. Ackerson, in the 
Waterbury gneiss near Harwinton village. It is probable that equal 
success would be attained in drilling elsewhere in the town. 

Till. — ^Most of the bedrock of Harwinton is covered by a mantle of 
till which has a maximum thickness of perhaps 40 feet, though this 
extreme is attained in but few places. This mantle consists of all 
the varied debris pushed and dragged along by the glacier and finally 
deposited in a thoroughly mixed and imstratified condition. The 



HARWINTON. 



145 



finest constituents, rock flour and clay, bmd together the coarser 
grams, sand, pebbles, and boulders and make a very tough deposit 
for which the colloquial name ''hardpan^' is very appropriate. De- 
spite its toughness and compactness there is considerable pore space 
in the till, so that it holds a good deal of water which has fallen as 
rain. Wells dug into the till allow the ground water to seep into 
them and if deep enough are in general reliable. The average depth 
to water in 116 such wells measured in Harwinton was found to be 
10.3 feet and the range from 1.8 feet in well No. 39 to 40 feet in well 
No. 90. (See PI. III.) In well No. 36 a fluctuation of 17.7 feet was 
noted, for although the well had 17.7 feet of water in it when it was 
measured (Aug. 20, 1915), it is said to fail. The reliability of 92 of 
these wells was ascertained; 40 were said to fail and 52 were said 
to be nonfailing. 

Stratified drift. — ^The deposits of stratified drift in Harwinton are 
restricted to the parts of the valley floors where the streams are not 
too rapid. These deposits were formed in large part by the washing 
and reworking of the till. The finer materials have been removed 
and the coarser laid down as clean, porous sands and gravels, in the 
places where the streams have been forced to drop their loads by 
sluggishness. Very good water supplies may be developed in deposits 
of this kind. Measurements were made of eight wells dug in strati- 
fied drift in Hanvinton. The depth to the water table ranged from 
5.9 feet in well No. 100 (PI. Ill) to 21.6 feet m well No. 74 and aver- 
aged 12.5 feet. Two of these wells were said to fail, and ^yq were 
said to be nonfailing; the reliability of the other well was not ascer- 
tained. 

RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRCNGS. 







Dug 


wells ending in till in 


Harwinton. 




No. 
on 
PI. 

ni. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


2 




Slope.... 

:..do 

do 


Feet. 
725 
720 
690 
795 
840 
945 
940 
985 
770 
890 
885 
800 
890 
740 
800 
685 
795 


Feet. 
16.1 
15.9- 
13.8 
16.0 
19.5 
15.1 
25.5 
19.8 
20.4 
13.3 
18.5 
11.3 
11.9 
15.7 
13.2 
13.6 
13.0 


Feet. 
7.7 
2.8 
9.2 
6.3 

10 9 
8.5 

14.0 
6.8 

16.9 
4.9 
8.5 
3.4 
4.3 
7.6 
8.3 
9.6 
8.5 


Chain pump 

do 


Unfailing. 


3 




Fails. 


4 


do 


Unfailing. 


5 




Swaie... 
Slope.. . . 
Plateau . 

Slope 

.do 


do 


Fails. 


6 




Windlass rig 


Unfailing. 


7 




Chain pump 

Deep- well pump 

House pump 

Windlass rig 




8 




Do. 


9 




Fails. 


10 




. do. . 




11 




.do 


Deep- well pump 

Windlass rig 


Do. 


12 




...do 


Unfailing. 


13 




...do 


House pump 

Sweep rig 




14 




..do 


Do. 


15 




...do 


Chain pump 

Pitcher pump 

Chain pump 

Chain pump and 
house pump. 


Fails. 


16 




...do 


Do. 


17 




...do 


Unfailing. 


18 




...do 


Do." 











187118°— 21— wsp 466- 



-10 



146 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in till in Hartuinton — Continued. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

ni. 



Owner. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Depth 

of 
well. 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Method of Uft. 



Remarks. 



19 

20 
22 
23 
24 
25 

26 
27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

32a 

33 

34 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48a 

49 

50 

51 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

66 

68 

69 



70 
71 
72 
73 
75 
76 

77 
78 
79 
80 

82 
83 
84 
85 
86 
87 
88 
89 
90 



Slope 
...do.. 
..do.. 
..do.., 
..do.. 
..do.. 



C.H.Wilson... 
Newman Hun- 
gerford. 



n. W. Acherson. 



M. C. Webster. . 
do 



James Elliott. 



Plateau. 
Slope... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Swale.. 
Slope..., 
Hilltop., 

...do 

Slope.... 
...do.... 
Hilltop . 

...do 

Slope.... 
...do.... 

...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Plain..., 
Slope.... 
...do..... 
...do..... 
...do.... 
...do...., 
...do..... 
...do..... 
...do..... 
..do..... 
..do..... 

..do 

..do 

...do 

..do 

Hilltop.. 

..do 

Slope.... 

..do 

Hilltop. 
Slope.... 

..do 

..do 



..do.. 
..do.. 
Plain. 
Slope. 



..do..... 
..do.... 
Plateau. 
..do..-. 
Slope.... 

..do 

Swale... 
Slope.... 
..do 



Feet. 
645 
635 
995 
985 
990 

1,025 

865 
805 
855 
830 
760 
720 
820 
810 
790 
910 
1,050 
995 
985 
1,030 
1,025 
860 
960 

965 
935 
935 
840 
825 
895 
870 
920 
835 
830 
830 
755 
825 
840 
860 
1,030 
1,065 
1,035 
1,025 
885 
950 
945 

945 
915 
920 
905 
910 
895 
865 

755 
710 
460 
470 

470 
780 
925 
880 
820 
780 
800 
460 
945 



Feet. 
12.1 
12.5 
15.7 
15.4 
18.7 
10.0 

34.9 
15.3 
12.5 
12.0 
12.4 
10.7 
15.7 
9.0 
21.4 
16.1 
23.0 
14.7 



11.4 

19.3 

9.4 

16.9 

9.6 
17.1 
11 

17.5 
16.4 
22.9 
9.8 
8.9 
13.2 
13.1 
13.1 
16.3 
22.2 
11.6 
18.4 
13'. 2 
31.7 
15.4 
15.7 
12.5 
21.8 
23.7 

19.4 

11.7 

26 

15.9 

19.6 

25.8 

12.5 

15.1 
14.3 
15.0 
16.2 

17.7 
9.3 
14.1 
13.8 
11.6 
14.0 
13 
16.0 



Feet. 
5.4 
7.1 
10.3 
12.6 
6.5 
3.4 

8.6 
9.3 
5.2 
8.0 
2.4 
5.7 

11.9 
2.4 

17.3 
9.3 
5.3 

10.3 

30 
1.8 
3.2 
2.9 
6.6 

4.6 
12.0 
5 

13.6 

10.4 

16.4 

6.7 

4.9 

7.0 

8.6 

7.7 

9.1 

8.1 

7.0 

7.1 

3.3 

20.5 

10.1 

5.1 

9.2 

16.7 

10.4 



11.2 
7.6 

24 
7.6 
7.5 

20.1 
3.8 



9.0 

8.5 

9.9 

13.0 

12.4 
3.7 
8.7 

10.5 
7.5 
6.3 
6 
5.2 

40 



Windlass rig . 
do 

Chain pump . 



Chain pump 

Chain pump and 
gasoline engine. 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

Gravity system 

(b) 

House pump 

do 



Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

Deep- well pump. 

Chain pump 

Windlass ng 

Chain pump 

do 



do 

House pump. 
do 

Chain pump . 

(b) 

Chain pump . 

do 

Sweep rig 

Chain pump . 
Windlass rig . 
Chain pump . 
Windlass rig . 
Chain pump . 

do 

....do 

Windlass rig . 

....do 

....do 

(b) 

Chain pump . 

do 

do 



....do 

do 

Two-bucket rig. 
Windlass rig — 
Gravity system. 

Windlass rig 

Sweep rig 



do 

Chain ptunp 

Windlass rig '. . . . 

Two-bucket rig and 
house pump. 

Two-bucket rig 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

do 

Sweep rig 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

Deep-well pump 



Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do.a 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 



Do. 

Pails. 



Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing, 

Do. 



Do. 

Do. 

Do.c 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Rock bottom; fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 



Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Unfailing; for analy- 
sis see p. 148. 
Fails, d 

Do. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 

Do. e 
Fails. 

Unfailing; rock bot- 
tom. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Unfailing. 



Fails. 
Do. 
Do. 

Unfailing. 



Rock bottom; unfail- 
ing. 



o Dug into rock from fissures from which water issues. 

* No rig. 

c 200 feet west of well No. 48. 

d At bam, 200 feet west of well No. 69, 

e Flows a gallon in about 9 minutes. 



HARWINTON. 

Dug wells ending in till in Harwinton — Continued. 



147 



Owner. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Slope. . 
...do — 
Ridge-. 
Slope... 



...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.-.. 
...do...- 
..do.... 
..do.... 
..do.-.- 
..do.... 
..do.... 
Slope... 
..do.... 
..do- — 
..do.... 
.-do...-, 
Plateau 
.-do.— , 
-.do. — . 
..do.— . 
Slope.--. 
..do..-.. 
..do-.--. 
..do...-. 
..do 



...do..... 

...do 

...do--. 

.-do 

Plateau . 
-.do 



Feet. 
910 
985 
860 
820 

798 
765 
690 
605 
610 
615 
620 
560 
500 
755 
640 
530 
620 
750 
855 
820 
805 
985 
975 
970 
965 
935 
940 
960 

920 
860 
860 
1,100 
905 
920 



Depth 

of 
well. 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Method of lift. 



Feet. 
13.2 
17.3 
19.9 
16.5 



15.4 



12.6 
17.3 
16.1 
12.3 
15.5 
18.6 
19.2 
17.5 
18.3 
16.6 
8.3 
21.0 
14.9 
16.4 
19.4 
14.8 
17.8 
31.0 
16.7 
18.8 
23.6 
15.6 

18.8 
20.5 
18.3 
14.4 
16.3 
23.5 



Feet. 

6.9 

11.1 

18.4 

12.5 

9.1 
22.5 

7.4 
11.4 
12.4 

9.5 
12.9 
15.0 
12.8 
15.3 
12.9 
11.8 

4.0 
16.5 

8.9 
10.5 
16.3 
11.1 

9.7 
22.5 
10.3 
14.1 
17.6 
11.6 

10.4 
18.4 
17.2 
13.7 
11.2 
16.4 



Pitcher pump 

Chain pump 

(°) 

Windlass and pulley 
rig. 

(«) 

Windlass rig 



Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 

Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

No rig 

Windlass rig 

do 

do 

Chain pump 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

Pitcher pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig 

Windlass rig and 
house pump. 

House pump 

Wheel and axle rig. . 

Windlass rig 

...-do 

....do 

Sweep rig 



Remarks. 



Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Fails. 

Unfailing. 

16 feet in rock; fails. 

Rock l)ottom; fails. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 
Do. 

Fails. 

Unfailing. 

Fails; rock bottom. 

Do. 
Unfailmg. 
Fails. 6 

Do. 
Unfailing. 

Rock bottom; fails. 

Unfailing. 



Fails. 
Do. 

Do. 

Unfailing. 

Rock bottom; fails. 

Do. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 



a No rig. h Maximum depth of water is 9 feet. 

Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Harwinton. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

ni. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Slope... 
...do 


Feet. 
580 
500 
900 
510 
615 
• 460 
715 
710 


Feet. 
14.6 
17.2 
18.5 
24.4 
10.7 
13.1 
22.6 
12.9 


Feet. 

6.3 

13.3 

14.1 

21.6 

6.9 

9.2 

18.6 

10.8 


Chain pump 

do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


21 




65 




...do 


do 


Fails. 


74 




...do 


Windlass 


Dug into rock; fails. 


100 




...do 


do 


105 




Plain... 
...do 


Chain pump 

Windlass 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


128 




129 




...do 


do 


Do. 













Drilled well in Harwinton. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
posi- 
tion. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 
to rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Water- 
bearing 
forma- 
tion. 


Remarks. 


48 


H.W. Ackerson. 


Slope.. 


Feet. 
860 


Feet. 
102 


Feet. 
15 


Inches. 
9 


Gneiss 


Windmill; for assay see p. 148. 



148 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



Springs in Hai'winton. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


0"vvner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
per- 
ature. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


35 




Slope 


Feet. 
900 
940 

870 
860 
940 
500 
1,060 


°F. 
56 
54 

50 

48" 

52 


Gallons. 

1 

Large. 
30 

2 




41 


Catlin Memorial Trough 

Newman Hungerford. . 
H. W. Acterson 


Swale 


Gravity system; for analysis 


42 


Slope 


see below. 
Unfailing; for assay see below. 


52 


do 


Windmill; for assav see below. 


67 
81 


Orrin Woodin 1 do 

1 do 


Unfailing. 

Water issues from a ledge. 


125 


1 do 


Gravity svstem to house and 






horse trough. 



QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and three assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Harwinton are given below. The waters are of 
the calcium-carbonate type except Nos. 69 and 42, which are sodium- 
chloride and sodium-carbonatej respectively. All are low in mineral 
content, ranging from 53 to 301 parts per million of total dissolved 
soHds ; and all are soft, No. 42 containing the lowest amount of total 
hardness as calcium-carbonate and No. 69 the highest amount. 

According to the analytical results, all the waters are good for 
domestic use; but high chloride content in No. 69, taken in connection 
with the high nitrate, indicates the possibility of pollution, probably 
from surface drainage. No. 69 is classed as only fair for boilers be- 
cause of the considerable amount of scale-forming constituents it 
contains ; the rest of the waters are rated as good for boiler use. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Harwinton. 

[Parts per million; S. C. T>insmore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns refer to corresponding num- 
bers on Pi. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 146-148.] 



Analyses.o 



41 



69 



Assays. b 



42 



48 



52 



SiUca (Si02) 

Iroa(Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na-FK)c 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOa 

Scale-forming constituents c 

Foaming constituents c 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion d 

QuaUty for boUer use 

Quality for domestic use 

Date of collection (1915) 



8.5 
.05 
9.0 
2.4 
2.8 
.0 

20 
3.7 
6.0 

12 

53 

32 

39 



Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 
Good. 
Aug. 3 



12 

.05 
34 
9.6 
57 

.0 

105 

21 

92 

14 

301 

cl24 

130 

150 

Na^Cl 

Fair. 

Good. 

Nov. 22 



Trace. 



Trace. 



Trace. 



13 


76 

Trace. 

19 



Trace. 



46 

Trace. 

4 



c53 
6 

20 
40 

Na-COs 

N 

Good. 

Good. 



Clio 
63 
80 
30 

Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 
Good. 
Aug. 6 



C61 

43 

60 

Trace. 

Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 
Nov. 22 



a For methods used in analvses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

h Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Computed. 

d Based on computed value; (?)=» corrosion uncertain; N=noncorrosive. 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 149 

NEW BRITAIN. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES; 

Of all the towns considered in this report, New Britain is the only- 
one east of the range of trap ridges of the Connecticut lowland. 
The town is in the southern part of Hartford County and contains 
the city of New Britain, with which it is coterminous. Outside the 
built-up portion there is a considerable district served by rural 
delivery from the central post office, which also serves the city with 
regular carriers. The Highland division of the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford Railroad runs through New Britain, and there is 
a branch 2^ miles long that joins the main hne of the Hartford division 
at Berlin. Ti-olley lines connect New Britain with Hartford, Berlin, 
Plain ville, Southington, Meriden, and more distant points. 

New Britain has an area of 13-J- square miles, of which 20 per cent 
is wooded. The woodlands are restricted chiefly to the hills in the 
western and northern parts of the town. 

New Britain was settled in 1687 as a parish of Farmington. In 
1785 Berlin, which then included New Britain, was separated from 
Farmington, and in 1850 New Britain was taken from Berlin and 
separately incorporated. Subsequently a borough was formed, which 
in 1871 was reorganized as a city. In 1905 the city was made coter- 
minous with the town. 

In 1910 the population of New Britain was 43,916, of whom 18,015 
were foreign born. In 1920 it was 59,316. The growth in popula- 
tion since 1850 has been rapid and uniform, owing to the vigor and 
stability of the manufacturing industries. In 1850 the railroad from 
Hartford to Bristol by way of New Britain was built, and in 1855 it 
was extended to Waterbury. In 1848 the raih'oad between Hart- 
ford and New Haven was opened, and in 1865 the branch to New 
Britain was finished.. These railroads have provided the transporta- 
tion facihties vital to New Britain's manufacturing industries. The 
introduction of a water supply in 1857 is said to have given a marked 
impetus to manuf acturiag, because it made possible the use of steam 
engines. It is to be expected that the population wiU continue to 
increase as in the past and that every few years it wiU be necessary 
to arrange for extensions of the water supply. 

Population of New Britain, 1850-1920 A 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1850 


3,029 

5,212 

9,480 

13,979 


1890 


19,007 
28,202 
43, 916 
59,316 


I860 


1900 


1870 

1«80 


1910 

1920 



a Figures up to 1870 from Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 654; figures from 1880 to 1920 
from reports of the United States Census. 



150 GROUND WATER IIT SOUTHINGTOl^-GRANBY AREA, CONK. 



The principal manufactures of New Britain are hardware, cutlery, 
edge tools, hosiery, and foundry and machine - shop products. 
Hardware of various sorts forms over 50 per cent of the products, and 
the name ''hardware city'' is often appHed to New Britain. 

surface' features. 

The topography of New Britain is somewhat intricate and reflects 
the structure, distribution, and character of the rocks. Two portions 
may be recognized — a very hilly and rugged western portion and a 
gently rolling eastern portion. 

The rocks underlying New Britain are trap and red sandstone and 
shale, all of Triassic age. The deposition of the sands and clays that 
eventually hardened to form the sandstone and shale was interrupted 
on three occasions by the quiet volcanic eruption of lava, which spread 
out in broad sheets that hardened to form the trap rocks. Within the 




EXPLANATION 






"^^ -'.,•'/«: 



Stratified drift 



t» 



Till 



i® 



Sandstone 



FiGXJBE 25. 



Posterior 
trap sheet 

Section across New Britain. 



Mai n"trap sheet 



I 



Fault 



limits of New Britain are found parts of the second and third sheet. 
The second is called the ''Main'^ sheet, as it is the thickest (400 to 500 
feet) and has the greatest topographic effect. The upper sheet is 
thinner (100 to 150 feet) and is called the ''Posterior'^ sheet, as it 
crops out on the back slope of the main ridge. Between these trap 
sheets there is about 1,200 feet of sandstone, and a similar series of 
beds separates the '^Main" sheet from the underlying '^ Anterior" 
sheet, which is thus named because it crops out on the face or cliff side 
of the '^Main" sheet. The '^Anterior" sheet does not crop out in 
New Britain, but it undoubtedly extends under much or all of the 
town. After their consolidation these rocks were broken into great 
fault blocks, and the blocks were tilted to the east. The soft 
shales and sandstones have been eroded away and have left the harder 
trap sheets standing as high ridges. Block faulting has caused the 
repetition of the outcrops in some places and their elimination in 
others. Only by such a mechanism can the irregular distribution of 
trap knolls in the southern and eastern parts of New Britain be ex- 
plained. Figure 25 is a structure section (indicated by the line E-E' 



NEW BRITAIN. 151 

on the maps) sho^ving the probable relation of the fault blocks in New 
Britain. 

The kind of topography which weathering produces on rocks hav- 
ing such a structure is that shown by New Britain to-day, except for 
the superadded effects of glaciation, which has smoothed the surface, 
wearing off projections and filling in depressions. The hills of New 
Britain are partly buried in sands and gravels of glacio-fiuviatile 
origin. Mr. T. A. Stanley's drilled well (No. 108, PI. Ill) passed 
through about 100 feet of sand and gravel before reaching bedrock. 
These sediments form a great outwash plain which with minor inter- 
ruptions extends eastward to Connecticut River. Most of the hills 
that rise above this plain have cores of trap, but in some the core is of 
sandstone, and others have no rock core at all. These are drumlins 
and are composed of till heaped up by the overburdened ice sheet. 

The total rehef of New Britain is moderate, only about 430 feet, and 
very few of the slopes are steep. The lowest point is where one of 
the branches of Mattabesset River crosses the Berlin town line, 55 feet 
above sea level, and the highest is on the slope of Bradley Mountain, 
485 feet. 

No large streams flow through New Britain. The northern half of 
the town is drained by the headwaters of South Branch, which joins 
Park River in Hartford and so reaches Connecticut River. The 
southeast corner is drained by tributaries of Mattabesset River, 
which joins the Connecticut at Middletown. A strip three-quarters 
of a mile by IJ miles along the western boundary is drained by the 
headwaters of Quinnipiac River, which flows through Cooks Gap to 
Plainville and then turns south. Formerly the direction of the 
flow through Cooks Gap was the reverse of the present and the 
stream carried the run-off of a large area of the western highland. 
This ancestor of the Pequabuck and Farmington followed the general 
course of the Mattabesset to Middletown. The diversion of this 
stream is discussed in the section on Plainville. (See p. 168.) 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Sandstone and trap. — The sandstones of the Connecticut Valley 
and the trap sheets associated with them have been broken and fis- 
sured very extensively by the jarring and crushing incident to the 
processes of block faulting and tilting. In addition, there are joints 
and fissures due to shrinkage either as the sediments dried out or as 
the igneous rocks cooled. A good deal of water which has fallen as 
rain soaks into these openings from the soil, and it may be recovered 
by means of drilled weUs. Information was obtained concerning 11 
drilled wells in New Britain. Their depth ranges from 36 to 500 



152 GROUND WATER IK SOTITHIHGTON-GRAHBY AREA, COl^lii'. 

feet and averages 237 feet. All these weUs are believed to derive their 
water from fissures in the sandstone. 

The well belonging to the Traut & Hine Manufacturing Co. (No. 
55, PI. Ill) is 270 feet deep. Sandstone was found at a depth of 15 
or 20 feet, and farther down the drill went through a rather thin sheet 
of trap rock, presumably the ''Posterior" sheet, below which water 
was obtained. There was enough hydrostatic head to make the 
water flow from the well. The probable conditions are shown in 
figure 26. The trap rock is presumably relatively free from joints 
at this point and acts as a restraining member. The water that per- 
colates into the cracks in the sandstone west of the point marked 
B flows through the complicated network of fissures. Once it passes 
B, the edge of the trap sheet, the water is restricted, and hydrostatic 
head is developed under the influence of gravity. A well drilled at 




Figure 26. — Diagram showing probable relation of the flowing well of the Traut & Hine Manufacturing 

Co., New Britain, to the trap sheet. 

W will reach fissures in the lower part of the trap sheet and in the 
underlying sandstone. The hydrostatic head of the water in these 
fissures wiU be equal to the head of a column of water of the height 
BC'y less a certain correction for the frictional resistance in the nar- 
row channels. If the difference in elevation is great enough to over- 
come the frictional effect, the water will flow from the well. The 
Traut & Hine well ^delded an abundance of water, but it was too 
highly mineralized for the company's particular uses and the well 
has been abandoned. 

The Stanley Works (Inc.) has a drilled well (No. 48, PL II) whose 
situation is somewhat similar to that of the Traut & Hine well. It 
was drilled through 20 or 25 feet of soil and 50 feet of sandstone and 
entered but did not go through a ^^ blue-gray" rock, presumably 
trap. The total depth is 250 feet. The water stands about 40 feet 
below the ground level, and a big supply is pumped. It is possible 
that had the well been sunk through the trap it might have struck 



NEW BRITAIN. 153 

water under sufficient head to produce a flow, but this is improbable. 
In the first place, certain of the fissures would probably allow the head 
to be dissipated, and in the second place, as the trap rock is prob- 
ably part of the ^^Main" sheet, 400 feet or more thick, the great 
depth would tend to close the channels of circulation. 

Dug well No. G3 was blasted 32 feet into the trap of the crest of a 
low ridge formed by the '^Posterior'' sheet. The owner, says that 
in the spring it is sometimes nearly full and that in summer it fails. 
The excess water in the spring is probably surface water. The fail- 
ure in summer is due to the smallness of the fissures and the slight 
depth. These disadvantageous factors overcome the great abun- 
dance of the cracks cut by the well. 

TiU. — The western part of New Britain and the hills of the eastern 
portion above an elevation of 220 feet above sea level are mantled 
with till through which a few ledges crop out. The till consists of 
clay, sand, pebbles, and boulders intermingled in all proportions 
and with no sorting or washing into separate beds. It is the product 
of direct deposition by ice without the intervention of aqueous action. 
Wells dug in till yield water which seeps in slowly from the fine pores. 
The yield is in general not great, but as a rule it is obtained at mod- 
erate depths. Of the 55 wells dug in till that were measured in New 
Britain 3 were found to be dry. The depth to the water level in the 
remaining 52 wells ranged from 2.9 feet in well No. 22 (PI. Ill) to 
60 feet in well No. 29 and averaged 14.9 feet. Information as to reli- 
ability was obtained for 18 of these wells, of which 12 were said to 
be nonf ailing. 

Stratified drift. — ^The deposits of stratified drift that form the plains 
of New Britain are far more porous than the till of the hills. Wells 
in this material are apt to be more reliable, although 6 of the 16 whose 
rehability was ascertained are said to fail. In all 39 wells dug in 
stratified drift were measured in New Britain. Their depth to water 
ranged from 3 feet in wells Nos. 61 and 65 to 40.9 feet in well No. 
102 and averaged 16.1 feet. 

There are also a number of driven wells which draw from the strati- 
fied drift. The P. & F. Corbin Co. has a battery of ^yg such wells 
which together will yield 50 gallons a minute. The wells are so 
closely spaced that they interfere with one another, for any one weU 
alone will yield 25 gallons a minute. It is possible to procure a good 
deal of water in this way, even in the built-up portions of the city. 
In such locations, however, the sanitary character of the water is 
questionable. 



154 GROUND WATER IN SOIJTHINGTON-GRANbY AREA, CONN". 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in New Britain. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of ~ 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Slope... 
Hilltop.. 
...do 


Feet. 
395 
390 
390 
330 
320 
325 
335- 
330 

300 
320 
310 
320 
440 
440 
240 
370 
325 
300 
310 
305 
280 
310 
320 
330 
330 
315 

320 
310 
325 
330 
330 

330 
305 
305 
290 
260 
240 
220 
265 
195 
195 
190 
205 
170 

170 
300 
300 
290 
280 
195 
200 
220 
180 
160 
200 


Feet. 
11 

24.7 
25.1 
16.7 
12.8 
41.1 
6.4 
38.1 

60 

35.3 

48.3 

30.9 

33.6 

21.5 

16.2 

41.1 

10.1 

8.0 
23.4 

4.5 
11.3 
27.2 
12.3 
13.4 
20.2 

41.2 
33.9 
21.6 
25.8 
19.3 

27.3 
16.0 
20.5 
41.2 
39.3 
19.8 
17.1 
39.6 
13.9 
11.9 
16.0 
20.3 

'"2i."5' 
24.7 
23.9 
20.9 
6.2 
27.0 
11 

11.5 
22.6 
13.6 


Feet. 
7 

14.8 
13.8 
14.0 
12.0 

""l'.h' 

31.7 
55 • 


(a) 




2 




2-bucket rig 


Unfailing. 


3 




Windlass rig 

do 


4 




Plain. . . 

Slope... 

Hilltop.. 

...do 




6 






Abandoned. 


7 




Windlass rig 

Deep- well pump 

Windlass rig 


Fails. 


8 






9 

10 


M. A. Hunter. . . 


Slope 

...do.... 


For analysis see p. 

157. 
Fails. 


12 




HUltop.. 
Slope. . . 
Hilltop.. 
Slope... 
...do... . 




Do. 


13 




40.8 
26.6 
32.5 


Windlass rig 

do 


Do. 


14 




Unfailing. 
Do.b 


15 




do 


16 






Fails. 


17 




...do 


13.6 

18.4 

8.0 

3.9 

17.1 

2.9 

10.3 

23.0 

11.4 

12.2 

17.4 

60 

18.3 
21.8 
15.9 
19.2 
12.9 

16.0 
11.3 
16.8 
19.5 
29.6 
16.9 
14.8 
31.0 
12.0 
9.6 
11.7 
19.6 
30.7 

31.5 
14.0 
15.6 
17.3 
19.9 

3.0 
20.1 

5 

6.5 
13.2 
13.1 


Windlass rig 

do 




18 




Hilltop- 
Slope 

...do.. .. 


Unfailing 


19 




Chain pump 




20 






21 




..do 




Do.c 


22 




...do 






23 




...do 


(a) 


New well. 


24 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 




26 




Hilltop.. 
...do 


Fails. 


27 






28 




Slope. . . 
...do 


do 




29 




2-bucket ris; 


Temperature 49° F.; 


30 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Wheel and axle rig. . 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump and- 
windmill. 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 


imfailing. 
Unfailing. 


31 




...do 


32 




Hilltop.. 
...do 


Fails. 


34 




Do. 


35 




...do 


Unfailing. 


36 




...do 




37 




...do 




38 




...do 




39 




...do 


2-bucket rig 




40 




Slope. . . 
...do 


Gravity system 

Windlass rig 

do 




41 




Do. 


42 




Valley. . 

Hilltop.. 

Plain. . . 

...do.... 




43 




2-bucket ris? 




44 




Windlass rig 

2-bucket rig 




45 






46 




...do 


Windlass rig 




47 




Slope. . . 
Plain. . . 

...do.... 
Hilltop.. 
...do... . 




54 


Landers, Frary 

& Clark. 
do 




{d). 

C^). 


54a 




56 


Chain pump 

do 


57 




Unfailing. 
Do. 


58 




...do 


do 


59 




Slope. . . 
...do 


do 




65 








66 


W. H. Ibelle 


..do 


(o) 


Abandoned. 


66a 
68 


do 


...do.... 
...do 


Gravity system 

do 


For assay see p. 157. « 
Unfailing. 


97 




Slope. . . 
...do... . 


Windlass rig 

Sweep rig 




98 

















o No rig. 

b Well reaches rock. There is a drill hole running down deeper, 
c Never less than 5 feet of water. 

d Wells 54 and 54a are dug on the site of a filled-in pond. They are dug to rock and get their water just 
on top of it. 
« Supplied six families and a dairy. 



NEW BRITAIN-. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in New Britain. 



155 



No. 
on 
PI. 

ni. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


5 




Slope.... 
...do 


Feet. 
240 
290 
190 
170 
185 
185 
160 
120 

130 
120 

120 
100 
120 
100 
IGO 
155 
165 
345 
320 
310 
225 
170 
180 
220 
150 
160 
160 
200 
230 

140 
120 

90 
170 
130 

80 
125 
125 
129 
100 


Feet. 
14.0 
31.2 
29.9 
7.0 
6.9 
32.2 
14.5 
18.6 

22.6 
25.0 

25.1 
15.0 
34.0 
16.6 
21.1 
18.4 
22.9 
6.6 
26.0 
15.1 
20.0 
18.2 
19.6 
15.3 
27.1 
25.5 
23.1 
20.1 

15.5 
21.1 
13.2 
41.8 
20.1 
26.0 
14.1 
15.4 
15.9 
21.3 


Feet. 
12.1 
28.5 
26.4 
3.0 
3.1 
22.4 
12.5 
17.1 

21.4 
23.7 

24.3 
10.5 
33.6 
11.7 
16.1 
16.0 
19.8 
4.1 
25.7 
14.4 
15.6 
18.0 
15.2 
11.9 
21.4 
21.2 
17.0 
13.8 
30.0 

11.0 
20.5 
12.9 
40.9 
16.9 
11.0 
12.8 
11.5 
13.6 
20.9 


Chain pnmp 

Windlass.... 


Fails 


11 






60 




Ridge... 

Swale... 

Ridge... 

-do. . .. 




Fails; 12 feet in trap. 
Unfailing; tiled. 
Tiled. 


61 






62 






63 




Chain pump 


In trap; fails. 
Tiled; unfailing. 
Reaches rock' unfail- 


64 




Slope. . . 
...do 


69 




Windlass 


70 




Plain... 
Terraf^e . 

Plain... 
...do 


Chain pump 

do 


ing. 


72 




Temperature 58i"'F.; 
unfailing. o 


74 




Two-bucket rig 

do.. .. 


75 






76 




...do 




Abandoned 


78 




Valley. . 

Plain... 

...do 


Windlass 




79 




Two-bucket rig 

.do 




80 






81 




...do 


Windlass 




82 




Slope... 
...do 


do 

do 




83 




Fails. 


84 




...do 


Chain pump 

.. ..do. 




8.5 




...do 


Unfailing. 
Abandoned' &ils b 


86 




Valley. . 

Slooe. .. 

...do 




87 




Chain pump 


Fails. 


88 




89 




...do 


Chain pump 

do 




91 




...do 


Unfailing. 
Do 


92 




...do 


. ..do. . 


93 




Plain. . . 
...do.... 

Slope... 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 


Do. 


96 


Corbin Cabinet 
Lock Co. 


C*^)- 


99 


Windlass 


Fails. 


100 






Abandoned. 


101 




...do 




(b). 


102 




...do 




Abandoned. 


103 




Plain... 

Slope... 

Plain... 

...do 


Windlass 




104 
105 


T. A. Stanley.... 


Electric pump 

Windlass 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


106 




do. .. . 


Do. 


107 




...dn 


do 


Abandoned. • 


109 


do 


do 


Fails. 











aWas once pumped for 2J hours in fighting a fire and did not fail. 

bPrior to the digging of a sewer in the street these wells ne\"er failed. Presumably the loose soil in the 
trench allows the ground water to percolate away. 
c Elliptical shape, 12 by 15 feet. Used chiefly for fire purpases. Has a capacity of 75 gallons a minute. 

Driven wells in New Britain. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth of 
well. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


49 
49a 


Corbin Screw Corp . . 
do 


Plain.... 
...do 


Feet. 
160 
160 
120 
255 
170 


Feet. 
30 
30 
36 
35 
24-30 


Inches. 
3 
2 


Gnllom. 
80 
50 




77 




...do 


Unfailing. 


90 




..do 






95 


R. & F. Corbin 


...do 




(") 













oA battery of 5 wells. Together they yield 50 gallons a minute, though any one well will yield 25 gallons 
a minute if the others are shut off. 



156 GROTJKD WATER IK SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONl^. 

Drilled wells in New Britain. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Water- 
bearing 
formation. 


Remarks. 


33 




Hilltop- 
Slope — 

Plain... 
...do 


Feet. 
320 
200 

190 
185 
180 
170 

165 

340 
180 

125 
75 


Feet. 

36 

250 

328 
500 
152 
400 

270 

232 
200 

134 
99.5 


Feet. 

20 or 25 

80 or 90 

80 or 90 

12 

40 

15 or 20 

18 
Slight. 


Inches. 
6 

8 

8 
8 

... . 


Gallons. 






48 

50 
51 


Stanley Works 

(Inc.). 
Russell&Erwin 
do 


150 

90 
35 

Large. 

Good. 

...do... 

5 
38 

6 
5 


(«) 

Sandstone. 

do 

do.... 

do.c... 

Trap rock.d 

Shale 

Sandstone. 

do.-.. 

do..-. 




52 
53 

55 

67 
94 


City Hall 

Landers, Frary 
& Clark. 

Traut & Hine 
Manufactur- 
ing Co. 

A. W. Stanley.. 

Young Mens' 
Christian 
Association. 

Theo. A, Stan- 
ley. 


...do.... 
...do.... 

...do.... 

Hilltop-. 
Plain.... 

...do.... 
do 


For analysis see 
p. 157. 

Pumped by 
windmill. 


109 

110 


100 
21 




Windmill, 
abandoned. 











a Said to have gone through 50 feet of red sandstone and then through "blue gray" rock, which is prob- 
ably trap. 
b Water enters the well at a depth of 150 feet. 

c Most of the water enters the well at 300 feet, and a little more at 400 feet. 
d See text (p. 152). 

Springs in New Britain. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Remarks. 


25 

. 71 
73 


By a marsh... 
Foot of slope.. 
do 


Feet. 
270 
115 
115 


"F. 
68 
58 


Spring boxed in. 

Unfailing; 3 feet above brook level, water drawn by a pump in 
the house. 



QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

In the following table are gi\^en the results of an analysis and an 
assay of ground-water samples collected in New Britain, together 
with one analysis furnished by a manufacturer in the city. No. 9 is 
calcium-carbonate in chemical character, and Nos. 53 and 66a are 
calcium-sulphate and sodium-chloride, respectively. No. 53 is low 
and Nos. 9 and 66a are moderate in mineral content. Although all 
the waters are soft, No. 66a is especially low in hardening ingredients. 
In the consideration of the waters for domestic use the amount of 
nitrate in No. 9 is noticeably high. It may be derived from vegeta- 
ble matter and not from animal pollution, but its presence warrants a 
careful sanitary inspection of the wsll. Difficulty may be experienced 
with the iron in No. 53. It is high enough to stain porcelain and to be 
objectionable in certain types of manufacturing. On account of its 
high content of scale-forming constituents No. 9 is classed as fair for 



NEW BRITAIN. 



157 



boilers; the other two waters are good because they contain but 
small amounts of scaling and foaming ingredients. The three 
waters may or may not corrode boilers, their action depending upon 
working conditions. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in New Britain. 

[Parts per million. Numbers at heads of columns refer to corresponding numbers on Pi. Ill; see also rec- 
ords corresponding iu number, pp. 154-156.] 



Silica (SiOa) 

Iron(Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na+K)d 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Siilphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (Cl) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOad 

Scale-forming constitiients d 

Foaming constituents d 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion h 

Quality for boilers 

Quality for domestic use 

Date of collection 

Chemist 



Analyses.o 



21 

.05 
36 
12 
9.6 
.0 
90 
20 
12 
60 

212 ' 
139 
150 
26 

Ca-COs 

(?) 
Fair. 
Good. 
Nov. 16,1915 

(0 



53 



2. 
c2. 
17 

1. 

«2. 

fll 



30 

4.5 



Jan. 



71 
49 
55 



Ca-SO* 

(?) 

Good. 
Fair. 

6,1911 
U) 



Assay. 6 



66a 



0.20 



51 



19 

Trace. 

89 



dl80 
e40 
55 
14.0 

Nar-Cl 

(?) 
Good. 
Good. 
Nov. 16,1915 
('■) 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 
5 Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 
c Oxides of iron and aluminum (Fe203+Al203). 
d Computed. 
« Determined. 

/ Carbonate and bicarbonate expressed as carbonate. 
9 By summation. 

ft Based on computed value; (?)= corrosion uncertain. 
* S. C. Dinsmore. 

} Analysis furnished by Travelers' Indenmity Co.; recomputed from hypothetical combinations to ionic 
form. 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

New Britain has been supplied with running water since 1857 by 
the board of water commissioners.^^ In that year a dam was built at 
Shuttle Meadow, on the Southington-New Britain boundary, and 
in the fall about 100 customers were served. In the following year 
the mains were extended to cover most of the borough. The res- 
ervoir covered 175 acres, had a capacity of 700,000,000 gallons, and 
gave a head of about 200 feet. In 1883 a canal, called the Panther 
Swamp '^ canal, " was dug to increase the area tributary to the res- 
ervoir, and in 1886 the storage capacity was augmented by the addi- 
tion of a 12-inch flashboard to the dam. This was not a sufficient 
increase, and in 1892 a new dam 10 feet higher was built and a second 
canal, the West canal, was dug to increase the tributary area. In 



65 Information taken from annual reports of the board of water commissioners of the city of New Britain 
from 1875 to 1914. 



158 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

1898 a small diversion dam was built on Roaring Brook west of 
Southington, and the water was piped across the valley by gravity 
to Shuttle Meadow, where it was stored. It was again found nec- 
essary to augment the capacity of the reservoir, so a 12-irich flash- 
board was added to the new dam in 1901, making a capacity of 
1,400,000,000 gallons. The next improvement was the addition of 
a storage reservoir on Wolcott Mountain above the Roaring Brook 
diversion dam. This has a capacity of 142,000,000 gallons, floods 
49 acres, and has a tributary drainage area of 2^ square miles. 

By 1905 the available supply again seemed inadequate for the 
demands of the mcreasmg population. In 1905 a dam was started 
on the so-called main brook above Wliigville, in the town of Burling- 
ton. When completed in 1913 this reservoir had a capacity of 
60,000,000 gallons. The water is carried by a pipe line lOJ miles 
long to its jimction with the city mains. Part of it is run into a 
small high-service reservoir west of the city, and the excess is dis- 
charged into Shuttle Meadow reservoir. The total capacity of the 
system for a year of average rainfall is estimated at nearly 9,000,000 
gallons a day. In 1915 surveys were being made on the headwaters 
of Burlington Brook, in Burlington, for a reservoir site and a pipe 
line to carry the water to the Whigville main and so to the city. 

The system comprises about 85i miles of main pipe, 4 to 24 inches 
in diameter, and supplies 636 hydrants and 4,815 service connec- 
tions. As 4,824 meters are reported in use, allowing for the use of 
more than one meter on some taps, the supply is virtually all metered.^® 

The following table cites analj'ses of the water given in the reports 
of the board of water commissioners for the years ending March 
31, 1909, 1911, 1913, and 1914. The analyses given are averages 
of monthly analyses made by Davenport & Keeler, consulting chemists 
in New Britain. The analysts state that no wide divergence from 
the average was noted. 

Averages of monthly analyses of New Britain water supply. 
[Parts per million.] 



1909 


1911 


1913 


41 


54 


41 


21 


22 


18 


.02 


.07 


.03 


.33 


None. 


None. 


None. 


.04 


.03 


3.2 


3.3 


2.2 


2.9 


2.7 


2.3 



1914 



Total solids 

Volatile solids 

Free ammonia 

Albuminoid ammonia 
Nitrogen as nitrates . . 

Oxygen consumed 

Chloride radicle 



48 
20 

.08 
None. 
.38 
2.5 
2.2 



66 Board of Water Commissioners of New Britain Fifty-seventh Ann. Kept., for the year ending Mar. 31, 
1914. 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 159 

NEW HARTFORD. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

New Hartford is near the middle of the eastern boundary of 
Litchfield County and includes the junction of the East and West 
branches of Farmington River. The principal settlement is New 
Hartford village, near the northeast corner. Pine Meadow, the 
second settlement, lies southeast of New Hartford and is almost con- 
tinuous with it. Nepaug, Bakersville, and Maple Hollow are small 
settlements in the upper valley of Nepaug River, and Town Hill, 2 
miles south-southwest of the village, is a fourth. There are post 
offices at New Hartford and Pine Meadow, but the other sections 
are served by rural delivery from Winsted, CoUinsville, Unionville 
Torrington, and New Hartford. The New Hartford branch of the 
Northampton division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
road has its terminus at New Hartford and also has a station at Pine 
Meadow which is used jointly with the Central New England Rail- 
way. The latter runs north and south through the town and at 
New Hartford has a separate station. Stage lines connect New 
Hartford with settlements in Barkhamsted and Hartland. 

New Hartford has an area of 37^ square miles, of which about 70 
per cent is wooded. There are 109 miles of dirt roads worked by the 
town and 6 miles of bituminous-macadam road belonging to the 
State trunk line between Hartford and Winsted. The Hartford 
board of water commissioners has built some excellent macadam 
roads to replace those to be flooded by their new reservoir. Most 
of New Hartford is rugged, so that many of the grades are severe, 
and in parts of the upper valley of Nepaug River there is a good deal 
of sand. There are about 6 miles of roads that have been legally 
discontinued. 

New Hartford was incorporated in 1738 and has had no change of 
territory or organization since. Previous to its iacorporation this 
region was known as the Green Woods on account of the very fine 
forests. It has always been of some importance, as it is on one of 
the few easy lines of communication between central Connecticut and 
the northwestern part of the State, southwestern Massachusetts, and 
central New York. Manufacturing was begun early because of the 
excellent water power and the convenient routes of transportation. 
Prior to the manufacturing development Town Hill was the principal 
settlement, but New Hartford has far outstripped it. Manufac- 
turing increased fairly steadily till after 1900, when one of the bigger 
companies moved its equipment away. The table below shows the 
changes in population since the incorporation of the town. The 
changes after 1800 for the most part refiect the degree to which manu- 
facturing flourished. 



160 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

Population of New Hartford, 1756-1910." 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1756 


260 
1.001 
1,296 


1820 


1,685 
1,766 
1,703 
2,643 
2,758 
3,078 


1880 ' 


3,302 
3,160 
3,424 
2 144 


1774 


1830 ■ 


1890 


1782 


1840 


1900 


1790 


1850 


1910 


1800 


1,753 
1,507 


1860 






1810 


1870 











a Connecticut Eegister and Manual, 1915, p. 654. 

The principal industries are agriculture, including general crops 
and tobacco, and the manufacture of cotton goods, silks, brushes, 
and planes and rules. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

New Hartford has a total relief of 835 feet. The lowest point is 
where Farmington River crosses the boundary, at 325 feet above 
sea level, and the highest elevation is about 1,160 feet at a number 
of points — two in the northwest corner, two in the southwest corner^ 
and three south of New Hartford village. These are flat-topped 
hills and are believed to be remnants of one of the wave-cut terraces 
that formerly extended across Connecticut. (See Harwinton report, 
p. 143.) During the long time since the carving of the flat terrace 
floor it has been cut deeply by erosion, so that only a few small frag- 
ments remain. 

In the report on Canton (see p. 104) there is a brief discussion of 
the gorge at Satans Kingdom, a mile south of Pine Meadow. Prior 
to the glacial epoch Farmington River followed a channel half a 
mile east of the present one. In late glacial time the eastern channel 
was blocked by a dam of stratified drift and the river was diverted 
into its new course, which it has cut to a deep gorge. When the dam 
was first built and before the gorge was cut there was a lake that 
extended northward and covered the present plain around Pine 
Meadow. A somewhat similar lake was made in part of Nepaug 
River valley and adjacent parts of the towns of Burlington and 
Canton. 

Most of New Hartford is drained by Farmington River and its 
tributaries. The largest of these, Nepaug River, has been studied 
by the engineers of the board of water commissioners of the city of 
Hartford.^^ The greatest flow in the year 1913 occurred on October 
26 and 27, after heavy rains (about 6 laches in 48 hours) when 1,400 
second-feet was recorded. The area of the tributary drainage basin 
is 26.8 square miles, so that the discharge is equivalent to a run-ofl 
of 52 second-feet per square mile. The minimum flow for the same 
year occurred in August and was only 3 J second-feet, equivalent to 
0.124 second-foot per square mile. 



67 Board of Water Commissioners of Hartford Sixtieth Ann. Rept., p. 45, 1915. 



NEW HARTFORD. 161 

About 2 square miles in the southwest corner of the town is drained 
by headwaters of Leadmine Brook, which flows through Harwinton 
to Naugatuck River. Along the north boundary there are several 
small brooks which flow into Morgan River, in Barkhamsted. Sev- 
eral small brooks in the neighborhood of New Hartford empty di- 
rectly into the Farmington. On August 23, 1915, after a rather rainy 
period, a float measurement was made on one of these, South Moun- 
tain Brook, a little west of the reservoir of the New Hartford Water 
Co., and gave a result of about 2 second-feet. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Schist and gneiss. — Underlying New Hartford are three varieties of 
bedrock — the Hoosac schist, the Waterbury gneiss, and the Becket 
granite gneiss. ^^ 

The Hoosac schist is a typical light to dark gray mica scliist. The 
mica is in the form of flakes which are roughly parallel and give the 
rock a pronounced cleavage characteristic of schists. Besides mica, 
the rock contains much granular quartz and a little garnet, feldspar, 
and staurolite. The schist underlies the area southeast of a north- 
east-southwest diagonal through the town, except about a square 
mile at the southwest which is underlain by Waterbury gneiss. This 
rock is believed by Gregory ^^ to be a modification of the Hoosac 
schist made by the injection of granitic and quartzose veins in quan- 
tities sufficient to alter the character of the rock completely. Such 
injected sheets and dikelets are found in greater or less amounts 
almost everywhere in the Hoosac schist, but in the Waterbury gneiss 
they predominate over the schistose material. The Becket granite 
gneiss, which underlies the northwestern part of the town, is com- 
posed of alternating light and dark bands. The light bands consist 
chiefly of quartz and feldspar; the dark bands of black mica. White 
mica and garnet are found in subordinate amounts. 

These bedrocks are of similar character and value as regards their 
water-bearing capacity. All are cut by a complicated network of 
fractures and joints, from which water that has percolated down from 
the soil above may be recovered by means of drilled wells. The 
fractures are numerous near the surface, but in depth they are fewer 
and narrower on account of compression by the weight of overlying 
rock. No water has yet been obtained from the bedrocks in New 
Hartford, but driUing operations should prove worth while where 
domestic and farm needs are not satisfied by springs and wells. 

58 Gregory, H. E,, and Robinson, H. H., Preliminary geological map of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. 
and Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 7, 1907. 

69 Rice, W. N., and Gregory, H. E., Manual of the geology of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. and Nat. 
Hist. Survey Bull. 6, p. 100, 1906. 

187118°— 21— wsp 466 11 



162 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

TiU. — ^There is a mantle of till over the bedrock of the town except 
where the rocks crop out and in the areas of stratified drift in the low- 
lands. The till is an unstratified or poorly stratified mass of boulders, 
pebbles, sand, and silt partly cemented together by very fine rock 
flour and clay. The pores between the grains are very small, but 
there is a considerable circulation of ground water through them 
and wells dug in till yield good supplies of water. The average depth 
to water in the 65 wells of this class that were measured in New Hart- 
ford was 10.2 feet, and the range was from 1.2 feet in well No. 23 (see 
PI. Ill) to 28 feet in well No. 55. The reliability of 43 was ascer- 
tained; 11 were said to fail and 32 to be nonf ailing. 

Stratified drift. — The stratified-drift areas of New Hartford include 
the lake deposits of the Nepaug Valley and those above Satans 
Kingdom, the flood plain of Farmington River and the upper reaches 
of Nepaug River, and the small esker deposits. The eskers are of no 
importance as sources of water supply, as they are small and their 
topographic form is such as to allow water to escape readily. Two 
eskers are shown on the geologic map (PI. II) — one 1 J miles south of 
the village and another a mile west of it. 

The flood plain and lake deposits of stratified drift are excellent 
bearers of ground water, for they are very porous and allow great 
freedom of circulation. Those of the lake deposits that were formed 
more or less as deltas are likely to have steep borders from which the 
water drains quickly, but the more flat-lying deposits are fairly reliable 
sources. Seventeen wells dug in this general class of material were 
measured in New Hartford. The depth to water was found to aver- 
age 13 feet and to range from 4.8 feet in well No. 48 (see PI. Ill) to 
26.9 feet in well No. 58. Ten of these wells were said never to fail 
and &ve were said to fail; the reliability of the two remaining wells 
was not ascertained. 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in New Hartford. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 



2 

3 

4 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

13 

14 

16 

17 

18 

20 

21 

22 



Owner. 



C. H. Rood 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Plateau . 
..do.... 
Valley. . 
Slope . . . 

..do 

..do.... 

..do 

..do.... 
.-do.... 
..do.... 
..do.... 
HiUtop.. 
..do.... 
..do.... 

..do 

..do.... 
Slops. . . 

a 6 feet in diameter 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 

1,080 

1,030 

670 

670 

850 

820 

965 

770 

710 

660 

610 

1,025 

1,055 

820 

1,175 

1,160 

990 



Depth 

of 
weU. 



Feet. 
15.9 
19.5 
10.3 
12.5 
12.6 
15.6 
31.3 
19.6 
29.0 
22.1 
11.9 
22.1 
15.7 
20.3 
25.6 
29.9 
16.5 



Depth 
to 

water. 



Feet. 

2.3 

6.5 

2.2 

9.2 

7.0 

11.6 

7.2 

4.5 

13.1 

15.1 

7.3 

17.9 

5.6 

8.7 

17.8 

15.0 

4.9 



Method of Hft. 



Chain pump. 



Gravity system. , 

Chain pump 

do 

....do 

....do 

Deep-well pump . 



Windlass rig. 
Chain pump . 

do 

do 

(«>).: 

Cham pump . 
House pump. 
Chain pump . 



Remarks. 



Unfailing. 
Do.a 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Fails. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 



Temperature 59" F. 



6 No rig. 



NEW HARTFORD. 



163 



Dug wells ending in till in Neiv Hartford — Continued. 



Owner. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Eleva- 






tion 


Depth 


Depth 


above 


of 


to 


sea 


well. 


water. 


level. 






Feet. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


970 


22.4 


1.2 


970 


22.5 


6.8 


640 


31.1 


27.8 


1,000 


23.1 


7.3 


990 


31.2 


9.2 


990 


32.9 


2.1 


860 


25.1 


16.9 


630 


10.4 


6.9 


535 


13.5 


5.1 


565 




15 


880 


10.2 


3.0 


920 


23.9 


7.4 


600 


9.0 


3.5 


1,040 


24.0 


7.7 


880 


27.6 


17.3 


980 


13.3 


4.8 


980 


22.8 


4.4 


900 


15 


10 


960 


16.3 


9.8 


700 


26.2 


22.2 


770 


13.0 


1.5 


670 


13.9 


7.9 


700 


15.3 


8.8 


370 


7.0 


2.7 


400 


10.5 


9.3 


360 


29.7 


28.0 


590 


29.1 


14.8 


810 


16.1 


15.1 


890 


24.1 


18.6 


865 


34.9 


19.0 


685 


17.5 


11.6 


720 


16.9 


7.0 


850 


30.9 


8.0 


830 


26.6 


16.7 


720 


16.4 


10.6 


560 


16.9 


6.1 


620 


17.4 


8.0 


710 


21.5 


7.0 


730 


29.0 


22.5 


915 


15.5 


9.2 


840 


22.8 


9.7 


500 


10.6 


7.2 


865 


10.9 


7.1 


815 


16.8 


14.6 


665 


18.4 


16.2 


800 


9.8 


8.6 


820 


18.9 


13.5 


480 


13.4 


10.1 



Method Of lift. 



Remarks. 



23 

23a 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

34 

35 

36 

38 

39 

41 

42 



Ellsworth . 



Koch Bros. 



Mrs.A. E.Dietz. 
E.W."Keilogg.'!: 



Richards. 



Slope. . . 
...do. . . 
...do... 
Plateau 
...do... 
...do... 
Slope.. 
...do. . . 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do..., 
...do... 
Plateau , 
Slope. . 
Plateau . 
...do..., 

Slope . . 

...do 

...do... 
...do... 
Hilltop , 

...do 

Plain... 
...do..., 
...do... 
Slope... 
...do..., 
...do..., 
...do.... 
Plain. . . 
Slope.. . 
...do..., 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Plain... 
Slope . . . 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Plain. . . 
Slope . . . 
Plain . . . 
Slope. . . 
Plain. . . 
...do.... 
Slope . . . 



Chain pump. 

do 

do 



Chain pump 

do 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 

Deep-well pump . . . 

Gravity system 

Windlass rig 

House pump 

do 

Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig and air- 
pressure system. 



Windlass rig . 



Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig . . . 
Deep- well pump. . 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig. ..... 

do 

do 

Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig 

Pitcher pump 

Wheel and axle rig 
Chain pump 



Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig , 

do 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig. . ., 

(b) 

Chain pump , 

Deep- well pump . . 

Windlass rig , 

Hou.se pump , 

Deep- well rig , 

(&) 

Chain piunp , 

Windlass rig , 



Unfailing. 
Fails.o 
Do. 
Rock bottom; fails. 

Unfailing. 
Do. 



Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

Fails; analysis p. 164. 

Analysis on p. 164. 



Rock bottom; fails. 
I'nfailiag. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do.c 
Do. 

Do. 



a 100 feet south of well No. 23. 



b No rig. 



c Never over 5 feet of water. 



Dug wells ending in stratified drift in New Hartford. 



Owner. 



W. R. Goldbeck. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Plain. 
...do.. 
Slope . 
...do. . 
...do.. 
Plain. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
Slope . 
...do.. 
...do.. 
Plain. 
...do.. 
Slope. 
..do-. 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 
570 
660 
600 
700 
580 
360 
350 
555 
540 
535 
550 
540 
555 
795 
790 
500 
530 



Depth 

of 
well. 



Feet. 
11.0 
18.8 
22.9 
10.4 
16.0 
29.4 
15.9 
25.0 
18.9 

9.7 
19.0 
14.1 
15.3 
12.4 
18.3 
24.0 

9.8 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 

9.0 
17.8 
16.6 

4.8 
13.6 
26.9 

9.4 
21.6 
16.5 

6.3 
15.4 

9.0 
11.5 

7.9 
12.5 
17.1 

6.3 



Method of lift. 



Pitcher pmnp. . 
Chain pump . . . 
Two-bucket rig . 
Chain pump . . . 

Sweep rig 

Windlass 

do 

do 

do 

(«) 

House pump... 

Windlass 

Chain pump . . . 

do 

do 

Windlass 

Chain pump 



Remarks. 



Unfailing; assay,p.l64. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Unfailing. 
FaUs. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 



a No rig. 



164 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



Springs in New Hartford. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Elevation 

abo"ve 
sea level. 


Tempera- 
ture. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


1 




Slope 


Feet. 
1,020 
740 

600 

950 
750 

1,075 
910 

550 
400 
535 

380 

550 

535 


" F. 
55 
52 

56 

54 
49 

55 

47 

65 
55 

49 

45 
57 
49 


Gallons. 




5 




do 


Ram delivers 4 gallon a 
minute at the house. 

Gravity system to two 
houses. 

Ram. 


12 




.do 




19 




... do 




33 


Koch Bros 


do 




Unfailing; for analysis 
see p. 164. 

Gravity system; fails. 

Gravity system; unfail- 
ing. 


37 




Plateau 

Slope 




40 






52 




do 


200 to 300 


57 




do 


. 


59 


Geo. Hotchkiss 


do 


Unfailing; water issues 


61 

82 


Satans Kingdom Bot- 
tling Works. 


do 

Plain 


from fissures in a ledge. 
Ram. 

Water brought out by an 


86 




Slope 




outcrop of bedrock. 













QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of three analyses and one assay of samples of ground 
water collected in New Hartford are given below. The waters are aU 
low in mineral content, very soft, low in scale-forming constituents, 
and of the calcium-carbonate type except No. 15, which is a sodium- 
chloride water. All are suitable for domestic or boiler use, although 
the comparatively high chloride in No. 15 may possibly indicate 
pollution. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in New Hartford. 

[Parts per million; S. C. Dinsmore, analyst; collected Noa'. 30, 1915. Numbers at heads of coliunns refer to 
corresponding numbers on PI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 163-164.] 



Analyses.a 



33 



39 



42 



Assay. & 
15 



Si lica (Si02) 

Iron (Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na-I-K)c 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Tota 1 dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOs c 

Scale-forming constituents c 

Foaming constituents c 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion e 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 



19 
Trace. 
11 
4.1 
4.5 
.0 
32 
3.2 
6.0 
20 
86 
44 
58 
12 

Ca-C03 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



6.5 
.60 
6.5 
.6 
2.9 
.0 
22 
2.9 
3.0 
Trace. 
35 
19 
27 



Ca-COg 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



14 

.25 
14 
1.5 
2.4 
.0 
46 
2 8 
4.0 
Trace. 
66 
41 
58 
6 

Ca-COa 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



Trace. 



57 

71 
15 
81 



c230 

d74 

90 

150 

Na-Cl 

(?) 
Good. 
Good, 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Computed. 

d Determined. 

e Based on computed value; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



NEW HARTFORD. 165 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 



The village of New Hartford has two water companies that serve 
overlappmg territories. The older company is the outgrowth of a 
commercial system and is not very extensive. The younger and larger 
company was organized to give a service adequate to the demands 
of the manufacturers for fire protection. 

The service now maintained by the Village Water Co. of New 
Hartford was commenced sometime prior to September, 1825. At 
first water was carried from a brook through an open ditch to a col- 
lecting basin and thence by log pipes to a tub in the village, where 
the people came and dipped it. Later lines of log pipe were run 
from the collecting basin to several of the houses. In 1861 the log 
pipes were for the most part replaced by iron pipes. The next 
improvement was made in 1891, when a 6-inch main was laid from 
the ''dry weU," as the collecting basin was called, with small dis- 
tributing pipes to the houses. At this time the first formal organiza- 
tion, a voluntary association, was made. In 1905 the association 
was reorganized as a joint stock company, and the present dam and 
reservoir were built on a stream west of the village. The dam has a 
maximum height of 14 feet, has a 12-inch core wall, and gives a stor- 
age capacity of 1,250,000 gallons. Water is delivered by gravity 
under a pressure of about 80 pounds to the square inch through 
about a mile of main to 38 service connections. There is a second 
reservoir for emergencies. According to Mr. C. E. Jones, the manager, 
the supply is used entirely for domestic purposes. 

The New Hartford Water Co. was incorporated in 1891 for the pur- 
pose of providing fire protection for the mills in New Hartford and 
Pine Meadow. A stone dam 17 J feet high was constructed on South 
Mountain Brook at an elevation of 715 feet above sea level, making a 
reservoir with a capacity of 3,500,000 gallons. Operations were begun 
in 1894. The water is distributed by gravity through 6J miles of 
mains and is deUvered to 63 fire hydrants and 190 service connections. 
The pressure ranges from 120 pounds to the square inch in the higher 
parts of the village to 155 pounds in Pine Meadow. 

It is probable that these supplies will be sufficient for the demands 
of New Hartford for many years, and the streams are probably 
capable of filling reservoirs of much greater capacity. 

In the southeast corner of New Hartford and the adjacent parts 
of Bm-lington and Canton the board of water commis'sioners of Hart- 
ford is constructing a reservoir. The reservoir will store the waters 
of Nepaug River and Phelps and Clear brooks will flood 851 acres, 
and will have a capacity of 8,500,000,000 gallons. The dam on Nepaug 
River will be of cyclopean concrete masonry, have a maximum height 
of 140 feet, and be 550 feet long. It was necessary in places to 



166 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



remove 50 feet of loose mantle rock from the valley bottom in order 
to get a solid-rock foundation. The dam on Phelps Brook is of the 
earth-banked core-wall type and will be 1,200 feet long and have a 
maximum height of 140 feet. A short, low dike will be constructed 
across the sag in the rim of the reservoir between the two dams. The 
supply line to the city is for the most part 42-inch cast-iron pipe, but 
part of it is a tunnel half a mile long through Talcott Mountain. In 
order to compensate the owners of power rights in Collinsville, 
Unionville, and Tariffville for the loss of the summer flow of Nepaug 
River and Pheips Brook a compensating reservoir is being built on 
East Branch of Farmington River. The dam is to be about a mile 
east of New Hartford village and will be of the earth-banked core- 
wall type, with a maximum height of 120 feet and a length of 800 
feet. The 3,500,000,000 gallons of water which this reservoir will 
store will be held at the disposal of the power users for release as they 
wish. 

PLAINVILLE. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Plainville is a small town halfway between the Massachusetts 
boundary and Long Island Sound, in the Farmington-Quinnipiac 
Valley. The village of Plainville is the only settlement and is built 
up almost continuously with Forestville, which is just across the 
Bristol town line on the west. There is a post ofiice with regular 
carrier delivery in the village and rural delivery to the outlying 
districts. The Northampton division (Canal Road) of the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford Railroad runs north and south through the 
town, and the Highland division east and west. Their joint station 
is at the village. Trolley lines connect Plainville with Bristol, 
Terryville, Compounce Pond, Southington, Meriden, New Britain, 
and more distant points. 

The area of Plainville is 9 J square miles, most of which is cleared. 
The woodlands in the east with small patches in the northeast comer 
aggregate 3 square miles. Plainville is on two State trunk-line 
highways — one between Southington and Farmington and one 
between New Britain and Bristol. These have a total length of 7 
miles in Plainville, in addition to which there are 13 miles of dirt 
roads and streets. Although the soil is sandy in most places in the 
town the roads are well kept up and are uniformly good. 

Plainville, originally known as Great Plains, was separated from 
Farmington in 1869 and incorporated as a town. The population in 
1910 was 2,882, and of these about 2,500 lived in the village. The 
growth in population has been fairly rapid and steady and probably 
reflects the growth of the manufacturing establishments. Two fac- 



PLAINVILLE. 



167 



tors will influence the future growth, but it is impossible to say which 
will predomiaate. The nearness of larger manufacturhig centers, 
such as Bristol and New Britam, ma}^ tend to draw business away 
from Plainville and so hiader its growth. On the other hand, the 
level ground around Plainville gives many excellent factory sites 
which with the advantageous position at the junction of two railroads 
may induce manufacturers to locate here. 

Population of Plainville, 1870-1910. a 



Year. 


Popula- 
tion. 


Year. 


Popula- 
tion. 


1870 


1,433 
1,930 
1,993 


1900 


2,189 
2,882 


18S0 


1910 


1890 











a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 655. 

Most of the population of Plaiaville is dependent on manufacturing 
of various sorts, but there is a little general farming and truck raising. 
The principal manufactured products are knit underwear, electric 
sundries, small hardware and tools, and brass goods. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Plainville has a total relative relief of 530 feet, the range of eleva- 
tion bemg from 155 to 685 feet above sea level. There are two low 
pomts, one where Pequabuck Kiver crosses into Farmington and the 
other where Quinnipiac River crosses the Southmgton line. The 
highest point is on Bradley Mountain, in the southeast comer. 

Most of Plainville is a very level sand plam formed by the heavily 
burdened streams of melt water that issued from the ice sheet about 
the end of the glacial epoch. Upon leavmg the glacier the velocity 
of the water was much reduced and it was forced to drop its load of 
detritus, and in this way deposits of well-washed sand and gravel 
were laid down in front of the glacier, forming a glacial butwash plain. 
This fill is very deep, as is shown by the well of the Trumbull Electric 
Manufacturing Co., which went through 218 feet of sand, silt, and 
gravel before reaching bedrock. . The valley must have been at least 
218 feet deeper than it is now. That this great depth did not extend 
across the whole width of the valley is shown by wells Nos. 44, 55, 
and 71 (see PI. Ill), which reach rock at moderate depths. 

The hill in the northwest corner of the town, known locally as 
Camp Ground Hill, has a sandstone core overlain by 5 to 25 feet or 
more of till. The sandstone here is believed to be coarser and better 
cemented than that underlying the sand plain and therefore to have 
resisted erosion more successfully. The smoothly rounded outline 



168 GROUND WATER IN" SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN". 

of this hill is due to the ice sheet, which wore off the projections and 
filled the depressions with till. The hill in the southwest corner of 
the town, known locally as Redstone Hill because the red sandstone 
crops out at several points on it, is of similar character. 

The eastern part of Plainville is a high ridge held up by hard and 
thick sheets of resistant trap rock. The uniform sedimentation by 
which the red sandstone and shale were laid down was interrupted 
three times by the outpourmg of sheets of lava which cooled to 
form the basalt sheets or trap ledges. The whole mass — sandstone, 
shale, and trap — was later broken by earth movements into huge 
blocks that were at the same time tilted to the east. The upturned 
edges of the trap sheets form ridges of considerable topographic 
prominence, because they resist erosion more successfully than the 
sedimentary rocks. The middle sheet is the thickest (400 to 500 
feet) and therefore the most prominent and forms the high cliffs 
east of Plainville. Below and separated from it by several hundred 
feet of sandstone and shale is the thinner lower sheet (about 200 feet 
thick), which as it crops out on the face or the cliff side of the ^^Main" 
sheet is called the '^Anterior" sheet. In some places it makes a 
small cliff below the main cliff. North of the Quinnipiac it is more 
prominent than to the south and forms a line of low hills separated 
from the main ridge by a shallow valley. The upper' or "Posterior" 
trap sheet does not crop out in Plainville. 

The ridge of trap is not continuous but is cut by Cooks Gap, a 
gorgelike vallej^, 200 to 300 feet deep. As there is no evidence of 
fracturing or faulting,^^ it is probable that formerly Pequabuck 
River flowed across the trap sheet at this point and cut the gorge. 
Later the Quinnipiac, which had the advantage of flowing in a bed 
of softer rocks, cut its head back and captured the flow of the upper 
portion of this big river and turned it southward. At the end of the 
glacial epoch the sand plain was built up in such a way as to turn the 
Pequabuck northward. (See Farmington report, p. 120.) 

Two streams flow across Plainville, Quinnipiac River, which rises 
in New Britain, flows westward into Plainville and then southward 
iQto Southington, and Pequabuck River, which rises in Bristol, 
flows eastward into Plainville and then northward into Farmington. 
The divide between these streams is part of the sand plaiQ and' is 
only about 20 feet higher than the stream levels. A float measure- 
ment of Pequabuck River made half a mile north of the railroad 
junction Sept. 22, 1915, indicated a flow of about 30 second-feet. 
Further figures on the flow of the Pequabuck are given in the Bristol 
report (p. 84). 

w Davis, W. M., The Triassic formation of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Kept., 
pt. 2, p. 176, 1898. 



PLAIN VTLLE. 169 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Two kinds of bedrock are recognized in Plainville — the sedimentary 
sandstone and shale and the igneous trap rock. 

Traj) rock. — Trap rock underlies the elevated portions of Plainville 
east of the broad sand plain. There are two classes of oj)enings in 
the trap. Bubbles of gas escaping from the lava have formed vesi- 
cles in the upper portions of the sheets. These are unimportant as 
bearers of water, as they do not interconnect. In addition there are 
many cracks or joints developed by shrinkage as the rock cooled. 
They are mainly at right angles to the cooling surfaces of the trap 
sheets and are very numerous near the contact, but many of them 
do not extend far into the sheet. Other cracks and fissures were 
formed by the jarring and crushing that accompanied the tilting of 
the rocks. Many of the fissures carry water which has percolated 
directly or indirectly into them from the soil above. This water may 
be recovered by drilling into the rock, as was done in Mr. Frank 
, Williams's well (No. 41, PI. III). 

Sandstone and shale. — The part of Plainville west of the lower 
trap sheet is underlain by red shale and sandstone, some of which is 
relatively hard and coarse, and some of which is softer and of finer 
grain. These rocks carry considerable water, in joints and fissures 
and in the interstices between the grains of the coarser beds. Mr. 
Beckwith's drilled well (No. 17, PL III) draws a good supply from the 
sandstone, probably from fissures rather than from pores. The fis- 
sures are less abundant in depth than near the surface, and, as Greg- 
ory ^^ has shown, the probability of a satisfactory supply is far greater 
in the first 250 or 300 feet than at greater depths. A concrete exam- 
ple of this is the Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Co.' s well (218 
feet to rock, 1,008 feet total depth) which procured a flow of 17 gal- 
lons a minute from a fissure at about 300 feet, but got no more water 
in the remaining 700 feet. A large charge of explosives was set off 
at a depth of 500 feet, in the hope of opening a connection to possible 
adjacent water-bearing fissures, but this was unsuccessful and the 
well was abandoned. It is possible that some fissures were cut by 
the drill, but that on account of the great pressure of the overlying 
rock they are so narrow as to be valueless as water carriers. 

Till. — The surface material on Camp Ground Hill, Redstone Hill, 
and the trap ridges is till except where ledges crop out. Till is a 
mixture of debris of all kinds of rock materials in fragments of all 
sizes, ground and tumbled together by the moving ice. In general 
the very fine particles are the most abundant, and as they are closely 
packed they make the till tough and hard. Some of the boulders 

" Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, E. E., Underground-water resources of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey 
Water-Supply Paper 232, p. 132, 1909. 



170 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTOfN-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

and pebbles show the effect of ice action by their subangular forms 
and the presence of ghicial striae or scratches. Wells dug m till 
have a small amount of water tliat seeps slowly into them from the 
fnie ])orcs. The depth to which wells in till must be dug to get a 
reliable supply of water depends in part on the character of the till 
but chiefly on the toi)ographic situation. Twelve wells dug in till 
were measured in Plauiville. The depth to the water level in these 
averaged 8.6 feet and rajiged from 7.7 feet hi well No. 43 (see PI. Ill) 
to 2;> feet m well No. 18. Information as to the reliability of six 
wells was obtahied, and five of them are said never to fail. Mr. 
Weeden's well (No. 43) is said to fail, and this is to be expected, as 
it is situated on a steep slope from which the water drams rather 
easily. 

Stratified drift. — In the discussion of the sm^face features of Plaui- 
ville it was shown that the sand plam consisted of well-washed and 
stratified stuid and gravel. In most places the top 2 or 3 feet is a 
loamy sand, below which is cleaner sand and gravel. The sand is 
more abmidant than the gravel and is hi the mam moderately ihie 

^reaTcv^eT J ^0.08 No UO 



ISO 



'-'^Jiii.^iu. mrrr— — — 




'A y?Mi\ 



Figure 27.— ProQle of water table from Pequabuck River southward through I'lainville to Quln- 

nipiac River. 

and suitable for mortar or cement. The gravel pebbles are for the 
most part from half an mch or smaller up to an mch m diameter. 

The interstices below a certain depth are iilled with water which 
has fallen as rahi, and the top of the saturated zone is laiowni as the 
water table. Its depth depends on the amomit of rauifall aiid the 
opportimity the water has to escape. The wells along West Mam 
Street, the fii'st street south of and pai'allel to Pequabuck River, 
have a depth of about 16 feet. On Broad Street, the next south, 
the depth is 11 to 12 feet. The wells on the connecting streets are 
foimd to be deeper the neai'er they ai*e to the river. South of Broad 
Street the depth decreases for about a mile but agaui increases near 
Qiuiinipiac Kiver. The depths to water hi a nmnber of wells along 
the luie A-A' on the small map (tig. 28) have been plotted hi the sec- 
tion (fig. 27) and a dotted luie drawn to show the effect of Pequa- 
buck and Quuinipiac rivers in de])ressuig the water table. 

Measiu-ements of 182 wells dug hi stratified drift were made hi 
Plauiville. The depth to water in them ranged from 4.2 feet hi well 
No. 102 (see PI. Ill and fig. 28) to 48 feet hi well No. 38 and aver- 
aged 15.2 feet. Information as to the reliability of 36 wells was 
ob tamed. Of these 31 were said to be nonfailhig and 5 were said to 
fail. Well No. 57 was dry when visited on September 4, 1915. 



PLAINVILLE. 



171 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRTNOfl. 

In the following tables the niim])or3 in the first column refer to the 
serial numbers shown on the maps — Nos. 1 to 43 on Plate III ami Nos. 
44 to 199 on figure 28. A few of the wells shown in figure 28 are 
also plotted on Plate III to indicate the relative position. 

Dug wells ending in till in f'lainville. 



No 
on Pi. 

m 

or 
flg.28. 



19a 
20 
43 
191 



Owner. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



C. W. Weeden... 



Hilltop. 



...do... 
Slope. . 
Plain.. 



..do.. 
..do.. 

Slope. 
Plain. 



Eleva- 






tion 

above 

sea 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 
to 

walor. 


level. 






Feet. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


385 


14.2 


11.0 


385 


17.4 


12.1 


235 


28.4 


23.0 


235 


18.2 


12.9 


230 


18.6 


12.6 


225 


16.6 


12.6 


330 


11.3 


7.7 


200 


14.2 


11.3 



Methwl of lift. 



Windlass and hoase 

pump. 

Chain pump 

Windlass 

Deep-well p u m p 

and pump in 

house. 

('haln pnmp 

Wimlluss 

House pump 

(yhuin pump 



RemarkB. 



Tllod; unfailing. 
Unfailing. 



Do.a 
Do. 

Falls. 
Unfailing. 



o 300 feet northeast of well No. 19. 
Dug v;ells ending in stratified drift in Plainville. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 
or 

51; 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of 

well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


4 




Plain... 
...do.... 


Feet. 
245 
245 
200 
205 
200 

190 

215 
195 
220 
200 
205 
210 
225 
195 
190 
195 


Feet. 
17.6 
27.0 
24.0 
16.1 
17.2 

17.6 

10 

16. 5 

43. 1 

17.5 

18.4 

20.8 

2.3.1 

17.2 

26.9 

18.6 


Feet. 
1.5. 2 
24.5 
20.9 
15 
12.4 

1.5. 4 

14 

12.7 

41.4 

9 

17.2 
17.9 
21. 3 
14.7 
2:1.4 
15. 1 




Abandoned. 


5 




Chain pump 


Unfailing. « 


5b 




...do 


Do. 


8 




.do 


Windlass rig 


Unfailing; tiled. 


9 




...do 


UnXailing; a Ij a n- 


10 




...do 


Chain pump 


doned. 
Unfoillng; rock bot- 


11 




Slope. . . 
. .do. . .. 


tom. 
A bou 1 5 feet In rock. 


12 




Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

(h) 


Unfailing. 


13 
14 


Peter Nystrom . . 


Terrace. 

Plain... 

.do.. . 


Do. 


15 






Abandoned. 


1.5a 




. .do 


Chain pump 

Windlass rig 


('^). 


10 
21 


G. A.Beckwlth. 


...do.... 

Slope. .. 

Plain... 
...do 


Tiled; falls. 
Unfailing. 


22 




(3hain pump 

iXMjp-well pump and 
house pump. 


Do. 


2:1 


Reuben Day. . . . 


Fails; for analysts 








see p. 176,<' 



a Measurement given was ma/le Sept. 4, 1914; on Sept. 31 the well ha^l 2.3 feet of water. 

''No rig. 

c East of well No. 15 and just across the street. 

ti Fourteen measurements of this well were made in 1914, as follows: 



Date. 


Depth to 
water 
(feet). 


Date. 


Depth to 
water 
(feet). 


Date. 


I)«»pth to 
water 
(feet). 


Aug. 15.. 


15.1 
1.5. 6 
16.5 
17.0 
17.4 


Oct. 19 


17.3 
17.3 
17.3 
17.4 
17.4 


Oct. 29 


17.5 


Sept. 4.,'. .... . . . 


21 


31 


17.5 


21 


23 


Nov. 2 


17.6 


Oct. 11 


25 


4 


17.7 


18 


27 













172 GROUND WATER IN SOtTTHINGTOlSr-GRANBY AREA, CONK. 





Dug wells ending in stratified drift in 


Plainville — Continued. 


No. 
on 
PL 
III 
or 

fig. 

28. 


Owner, 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


24 
25 


Chas. Spaulding. 


Plain. . . 

Slope. . . 
Plain... 
..do.. . 


Feet. 
195 

160 
200 
205 
205 
205 
205 
205 
205 
210 
200 
210 
195 
240 
200 
190 

185 
195 
190 
210 
210 
205 
210 
210 
210 
220 
220 
225 
225 
225 
220 
205 
205 
210 
192 
185 
180 
180 
195 
215 
220 
220 
195 
200 

200 
200 
195 
195 
180 
180 
185 
190 
190 
195 
190 
190 
185 
185 
185 
185 
185 
180 
185 


Feet. 
19.7 

9.3 
12.6 
14.5 
27.7 
26.6 
41.1 
13.0 
20.9 
13.4 
22.3 
30.0 
18.9 
50 
25.1 
17.6 

22.7 
19.2 
15.6 
26.0 
23.8 
21.7 
24.1 
20.1 
26.6 
34.4 

'"26." 7" 
19 

24.0 
23.9 
24.4 

r 18.4 
23.7 
13.4 
12.4 
12.2 
12.8 
12.3 
24.4 
36.3 
22.9 
13.9 
19.4 

17.8 
27.9 
14.5 
13.6 
14.2 
14.9 
17.3 
17.0 
17.3 
17.7 
21.8 
20.0 
19.0 
18.8 
21.0 
18.0 
17.6 
19.4 
18.7 


Feet. 
16.7 

6.6 
4.3 
10.4 
25.6 
23.6 
18.4 
9.8 
14.8 
10.5 
13.6 
27.8 
17.1 

21.7 
15.4 

20.1 
17.6 
8.9 
22.9 
21.3 
16.3 
19.6 
16.4 
24.1 
33.8 
28 
23.2 


Two-bucket rig and 
air-pressure system. 


Unfailing.a 


26 








27 






Do. 


28 




.do 




Fails. 


29 




. .do 


Two-bucket rig 


Unfailing. 


30 




. .do 


Do. 


31 




. .do 


Pitcher pump 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

.. .do 


Tiled; unfailing. 


33 




...do 


Fails. 


35 




...do 




36 




.do.. - 




36a 




Slope. . . 
Plain. . . 
Slope. . . 
Plain... 
.do.. . 


Windlass rig 

do... . 


C*)- 


37 






38 






Abandoned 


42 




V/indlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 


Unfailing. 


44 




Unfailing; rock bot- 


45 




Slope. . . 
Plain... 
.do 


tom. 
Unfailing. 


46 




Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

... -do . 




47 




Do. 


48 




.do 




49 




.do. . 




50 




.do. 


Chain pump 

... .do 




51 




.do. . 




52 




.do. 


... .do 


Do. 


53 




.do. 


Windlass rig 

do.. . 




54 




.do 


Do. 


55 




.do. - 


Deep- well pump 

Chain pump 

do 


Tiled rock at 28 feet. 


56 




-do. 




57 




.do. 


Fails. 


58 




.do.. . 


20.4 
23.5 
18.7 
15.8 
21.8 
11.1 
10.8 
10.3 
10.9 
11.7 
24.0 
32.8 
22.0 
10.5 
16.1 

16.1 
14.9 
13.0 
12.2 
11.5 
11.9 
12.3 
13.4 
13.7 
14.6 
18.8 
16.3 
16.0 
16.4 
16.7 
14.8 
16.0 
15.4 
13.9 


do 


Unfailing. 


59 




. .do.. . 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 




60 




Slope. . . 


Abandoned. 


61 




Do. 


62 




. .do. . 


Windlass rig 

Deep-well pump 

Chain pump 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

House pump 

Chain pump 

do 


Tiled. 


68 




. .do.. . 




64 




. .do.. . 




66 




Plain... 
-do.. . 




65a 




Do. 


66 




Slope. . . 




67 






68 




. .do.. . 




69 




...do 


do 




70 




Plain. . . 
...do 


do.... 




71 




Chaia pump and 
house pump. 

Windlass rig 

do 


Unfailing; tiled; rock 


72 




do 


bottom. 


73 




do . . 


Rock bottom. 


74 




. .do ... 


do 




75 




. -do ... 


Chain pump 

Two house pumps. . 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 


Abandoned. 


76 




...do . .. 


Tiled. 


77 




do 




78 




do 




79 




do . 


Abandoned. 


80 




do .. 




81 




...do 


do 




82 




do 




Tiled; abandoned. 


83 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

Pitcher pump 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pumn 

do '. 




84 




...do 




85 




. do 




86 




...do 




87 




...do 




88 




...do 




89 




-do 




90 




...do.... 


do 





Date. 


Depth to 
water 
(feet). 


Date. 


Depth to 
water 
(feet). 


Date. 


Depth to 
water 
(feet). 


Aug. 15 


16.7 
18.1 


Sept. 21 


17.8 
18.8 


Oct. 18 


la? 


Sept. 4 


Oct. 11 













b Midway between well No. 36 and well No. 38. 



PLAINVILLE. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Plainvilic — Continued. 



173 



No. 
on 
PI. 

m 

or 

fis. 

28. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


91 
92 


'E.DlSpeilman!! 


Plain... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 

...do 

...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 

...do 

...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 

...do 

...do 

...do 

..do 


Feet. 
185 
185 
185 
185 
185 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
185 
185 
185 
185 
185 
180 
185 
185 
185 
185 
185 
185 
185 
185 
190 
190 
195 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
185 
190 
1«0 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
185 
185 
185 
190 
l90 
190 
190 
185 
185 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
190 
185 
185 
185 
180 
180 


Feet. 

16.2 
16.4 
18.7 
14.0 
15.8 
17.0 
15.2 
12.7 
12.9 
13.6 
13.3 
6.4 
14.1 
13.9 
15.4 
17.0 
15.1 
18.4 
Ifi. 7 
15.6 
13.2 
14.7 
19.8 
16.8 
15.9 
18.6 
18.7 
17.0 
16.1 
17.9 
20.4 
17.3 
18.8 
20.0 
18.2 
18.5 
23.9 
20.2 
18.7 
18.1 
20.0 
21.3 
20.0 
19.8 
18.0 
20.9 
19.5 
18.6 
20.1 
19.2 
21.9 
19. S 
20.2 
20.6 
20.0 
21.3 
19.8 
23.3 
21.2' 
18.3 
13.3 
13.0 
15.6 
18.9 
18.2 
16.7 
14.4 
18.3 
13.2 
13.5 
14.6 
15.1 
19.2 
13.2 
13.0 
12,5 


Feet. 
13.7 
14.5 
13.6 
12.6 
13.0 
15.9 
12.0 
10.3 
11.1 
11.7 
10.3 
4.2 
12.7 
12.9 
11.7 
12.3 
13.2 
13.8 
14.2 
12.8 
12.3 
10.4 
12.8 
13.6 
15.2 
14.6 
15.5 
14.4 
14.1 
14.5 
17.7 
16.0 
16.2 
15.2 
16.0 
16.1 
20.2 
18.1 
16.5 
16.0 
19.0 
18.0 
16.0 
16.5 
16.3 
18.0 
17.1 
16.9 
16.8 
16.6 
18.0 
16.7 
16.9 
17.2 
18.2 
18.8 
18.2 
17.8 
17.3 
16.7 
12.5 
11.4 
12.9 
1.5.7 
17.0 
14.0 
11.1 
14.3 
11.7 
11.4 
12.3 
11.6 
14.8 
11.3 
9.1 
10.5 


Chain pump 

do 




93 


do 


Unfailing. 


94 
95 
96 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 


97 


do 




98 


do 




99 
100 
101 


Two-bucket rig 

House pump 

.do 


TUed. 
Do 


102 
103 


Chain pump 

do 


Abandoned. 
Do. 


104 


do 




105 


.. .do 




106 
107 


House pump 

Windlass 


Tiled; abandoned. 
Abandoned. 


108 
109 
110 
HI 
112 


Chain pump 

Windlass ng 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 


Bricked; abandoned. 
Abandoned. 


113 
114 
115 
115a 


do 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 


Unfailing. 

Do. 
Abandoned. 

Do.a 


116 


do 




117 
118 
119 
120 
122 
123 


Chain pump 

House pump 

Chain pump 

House pump 

Chain pump 

do 




124 


.do 




125 


.. .do 




126 


No rig 


Abandoned. 


127 
128 


Chain pump 

. . .do 




129 


do 




130 
131 
132 
133 


House pvimp 

Deep-well pump 

Cham pump 

do 




134 


do 


Tiled. 


135 
136 


Windlass rig 

.do 




137 


.do 




138 
139 


Chain pvimp 

..do 




140 




Abandoned. 


141 

141a 


_.do 


Windlass rig 

. ..do 


(5). 


141b 

142 

143 




...do 

...do 

...do.... 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 


Chain pump 

do 

...do 


(0. 


144 


.do 




145 
146 


Windlass rig 

.do 


Abandoned. 


147 


.do 


Do. 


148 
149 


Chain pump 


Do. 


150 




Do. 


151 

152 


Chain pump 

. ..do 




153 


.do 




154 


. ..do 


Tiled. 


155 


....do 


Do. 


156 


..do 




157 


do 


Do. 


157a 


do 


Tiled; unfailing. 
Tiled 


158 
159 


House pump 

do 


160 
161 
162 
163 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 

do 


Abandoned. 



a 75 feet east of well No. 115. 

6 100 feet east of well No. 141. 

c 200 feet ea.st of well No. 141 and at comer house. 



174 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Plainville — Continued. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 

or 
fig. 28. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


164 




Plain... 
...do 


Feet. 
ISO 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
180 
175 
175 
180 
180 
180 
180 
175 
180 
190 
185 
165 
175 
175 
170 
160 
170 
160 
165 
175 
190 
195 


Feet. 
14.8 
10.5 
11.7 
11.5 
11.7 
11.2 
13.1 
14.8 
14.9 
12.7 
13.3 
11.2 
12.5 
12.2 
11.5 
10.4 
10.6 
11.3 
12.7 
20.8 
13.0 

9.9 
15.8 
11.7 

8.1 
11.0 
15.4 

7.9 
13.8 
10.1 
17.7 
18.8 


Feet. 

9.8 

9.0 

8.7 

8.5 

7.9 

8.7 

11.1 

10.8 

11.2 

9.8 

10.3 

7.5 

9.5 

9.5 

8.5 

9.2 

7.9 

7.3 

10.4 

13.3 

9.2 

4.6 

5.7 

7.8 

4.5 

9.7 

10.7 

6.6 

10.7 

4.8 

16.2 

15.9 


Two-bucket rig 

"Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

do 




165 






166 




...do 




167 




...do 

...do 




168 


do 

do 

Pitcher pump 

Cham pump 

do 




169 
170 




...do 

...do 




171 




...do 




172 




...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 




173 


do 




174 
175 
176 
177 


do 

do: 

do 

do 


Unfailing. 

Tiled; abandoned. 

Tiled. 


178 


do- 


Do. 


179 




...do 


do 




180 
181 




...do 

...do 

...do 


do 

. ..do 


• 


182 


do 




183 




...do 


do 

do 




184 




..do 


Unfailing. 
Abandoned. 


186 




...do 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

House pump 

Pitcher pumpv< 

Windlass rig 


187 




...do 


Unfailing. 


188 




...do 


Unfailing; tiled. 


189 




...do 


Tiled. 


192 




...do 


Abandoned. 


193 




...do 




194 




...do 


Unfailing. 


196 




...do 


Rope and bucket — 

Windlass rig 

Chain pumn 

do r 


197 




...do 


Tiled. 


198 




...do 




199 




...do 















Driven wells in Plainville. 



No. 
on 
PL 
III 
or 
fig. 28. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Diam- 
ter. 


Remarks. 


6 


Frederick Wheeler 

Jeremiah Randall 


Plain... 
...do 


Feet. 
200 
215 

200 

200 
190 
170 
170 


Feet. 
46 


Feet. 


Inches. 


For analysis see p. 175.a 
Dug well deepened by a 

drive pipe; unfailing. 
Unfailing; see description, 

p. 177. 
Two wells. 


7 






32 
34 


Plainville Water Co. . . 


...do.... 
...do 


25-30 

12-15 

33 

6 or 8 




3 


121a 


Trumbull Elec. Mfg.Co. 


...do.... 
...do 






Battery of wells. 


185 






195 




...do 


25 




Windmill draws about 4 








gallons a minute. 



o Supply is steady. The pump cylinder is in a pit 15 feet deep with the following sections: 3 feet loam, 
6 feet sand, 6 inches cobbles, 1 foot hardpan, 4 feet 6 inches fine sand. 

Drilled wells in Plainville. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 
or 
fig. 28. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 
to rock. 


Diameter. 


Yield per 
minute. 


Water- 
bearing 
formation. 


Remarks. 


17 

41 

121 


G. A. Beck- 
with. 

Frank Wil- 
liams. 

Trumbull 
Elec.Mfg.Co. 


Terrace . 
Slope. . . 
Plain... 


Feet. 
230 

240 

190 


Feet. 
100 

170 

1,008 


Feet. 
35 

123 

218 


Inches. 
8 

6 

10, 8, 6 


Gallons. 

2i 

2 

16-17 


Sandstone 

Trap 

Sandstone 
and shale. 


For assay see 
p. 175. 
Do. 



a Water in unconsolidated dri ft was cased off. A fissure at 300 feet supplied the only water from solid rock; 
Abandoned for a group of driven wells. 



PLAINVILLE. 

Springs in Plainville. 



175 



No. 
on 
PI. 
Ill 
or 
fig. 28. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Remarks. 


3 


Wm. 


J. Johnson 


Slope 

...do 


Feet. 
260 

230 
255 

210 


° F. 

51 

57 

57 


Unfailing; piped to house and horse 

trough. 
Supplie.s four families bv graxitv- 


39 




40 


R. S. 


Morey 


..do... 


Unfailing: gravity supply; for assay 

see p. 175. 
A basin 5 feet square by 2 feet deep. 


190 




...do 









QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and three assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Plainville are given below. The waters are low in 
mineral content except No. 41, which is moderately mineralized. 
Nos. 6 and 40 are very soft, and the rest are soft. The waters are 
carbonate in type, but in No. 17 the alkaline earths exceed the alkalies. 
In respect to mineral content they are suitable for domestic use. 
Nos. 6, 23, and 40 will deposit but little scale in boilers. Although 
the other waters will deposit more scale, the amount will not be ex- 
cessive, and all are considered good for boiler use. Corrosion would 
probably not occur through the use of any of the waters, although 
No. 23 is doubtful in this respect. Both chloride and nitrate are 
abnormal in No. 23. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Plainville. 

[Parts per million; S. C. Dinsmore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns refer to corresponding num- 
bers on PI. Ill or fig. 28; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 171-175.] 



Silica (SiOz) 

Iron(Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na-fK)c, 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle ( SO4) 

Chloride radicle (01) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOgc 

Scale-forming constituents c 

Foaming constituents c 

Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion* 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 

Date of collection (1915) 



Analyses.^ 



19 

.05 
10 
1.3 
12 

.0 
46 



8. 

5. 

3. 
73 
30 
51 
32 



Na-COa 

N 

Good. 

Good. 

Nov. 16 



23 



7.5 
.25 
16 
4.2 
29 

.0 
68 
12 
26 
18 
138 
57 
62 
78 

Na-COa 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 
Nov. 11 



Assays.b 



17 



c90 
d56 

70 

20 

Ca-COj 
N 

Good. 

Good. 
Nov. 19 



40 



0.40 


Trace. 


Trace. 








7 


27 


36 











68 


100 


173 


Trace. 


5 


5 


10 


10 


4 



C120 

d47 

60 

70 

N 

Good. 

Good. 

Nov. 16 



41 



C180 

d81 

95 

100 

Na-COa 
N 

Good. 

Good. 
Nov. 16 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Computed. 

d Determined. 

« Based on computed value; N=noncorrosive; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 



176 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



PUBLIO WATER SUPPLIES. 



Plaiiivillo lias boon supplied since 1884 by the Plainvillo Water Co. 
At fii-st the water was drawn entirely from Crescent Pond, a reservoir 
in the northeast corner of Soutliington, covering 58 acres and having 




>4 



I Mile 



ContoMi* iutei'val 20 t>tet 
EXPLANATION 



'i' 




50 
Oiff 




,20 



Drilled well Dug and driven well Spring 

^taftc /Tt//N>«ry(w.'/n^/c**s dapti &? water 

Figure 28,— Map of rMn\iJlo, A- A', Line of section iti llgiire 27. Numbers indicate wells referred to in 

text and tablo^^ 

a capacity of 160,000.000 gallons. The reservoir is fed by springs 
and was made by a dam 800 feet long and 25 feet in maximum height. 
The spillway is 234 feet above the Squai*e in Plainville, so there is a 
head of 100 to 110 pounds to thesquai*e inch. The water is distrib- 



PLYMOUTH. 177 

uted by gravity through 12 miles of main to 5S (Iro hy(h*aiits and 
437 service taps. Mr. J. N. M(dvornari, tlio suporiiitcMidoiit, estimates 
that 2,250 of the 2,<SS2 people in the town are sc^rved: The average 
daily consumption in sunnnor is estimati^d at 300, 000 gallons. 

About 1909 troubles was had with algal growths, and the company 
decided to install an auxiliary ground-water supply. After tests at 
several points a site was chosen east of the village and between the 
railroad and Quinnipiac Jiiver, at the point indicat(ul on the map 
(PI. Ill) as No. 32. The studies made here showed that the ground 
water moves in a southerly direction toward tlu^ Quinnij)iac. Thirty 
3-inch driven wells were j)ut down, in two rows of 1 5 (^ach. The d(^|)th 
ranges from 25 to 30 feet. Tests mad(^ with a sewc^r pump indicated 
a capacity of 40 gallons a minute for^mch W(;ll. The wells are con- 
nected to a suction main that carries the water to a tliree-cylinder 
7^ by 12 inch Deane pump, driven by a 5()-hors(^j)ower l)e la Vergne 
hot-tube crude-oil engines Water is pumjxMl (lire(;tly into the main, 
and the excess is backed u[) into a small cov(^red n^servoir at Crescent 
Lake. The pump has a capacity of 30,000 gallons an hour and if run 
10 to 12 hours a day provides water enough for 24 hours. Despite 
the heavy draft there has been no permanent reduction of the ground- 
water supply, and though the water level is depressed by the day's 
pumping it recovers its normal level overnight. 

The water is excu^Ilent, though a little harder than the reservoir 
water, but this disadvantage is more than compensated by the elim- 
ination of the algae and their "fishy" odor and taste. At times 
during tlui pumping season the water drawn from the tap has a milky 
color due to mirmte air bubbles sucked in with the water, but it 
([uickly clears on standing. 

PLYMOUTH. 

ATIEA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Plymouth is a highland manufacturing town in the southwestern 
part of Litchfield ('ounty, north of Water})ury and west of Bristol. 
The principal settlements are Plymouth, Terryville, and P(H|uabuck; 
the la.st two are continuously built up. At these places there are 
stores and post oHic^es. Tolles, Hancock, and Greystone are small 
settlements and with the farming distric'ts are served by rural delivery. 
The Highland division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad crosses the southeastern part of the town and has a station 
at Pequabuck, called the Terryville station, and flag stations at 
Wheton's, Hancock, and Tolles. Thomaston and Reynolds Bridge, 
on the Naugatuck division, are not far away in the town of Thomas- 
ton. There is a stage line between Terryville, Plymouth village, and 
187118°— 21— wsp 466 12 



178 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



Thomaston, and trolley connection from Terryville to Bristol, Plain- 
ville, and more distant points. 

The area of Plymouth is 22 square miles, of which nearly half is 
wooded. There are 90 miles of roads, including 4 miles of the 
bituminous-macadam State trunk line through Plymouth village, 
Terryville, and Pequabuck, connecting Thomaston with the cities to 
the east. The 86 miles of dirt roads are well kept up and are for the 
most part good except for the unavoidable grades. 

In 1795 Plymouth was taken from Watertown and incorporated. 
Its extent and organization have remained unchanged except for the 
separation of 13 square miles in 1875 to make Thomaston. Formerly 
Plymouth village was a more important place than TerryviUe, but 
the manufacturing industries of Terryville, which began to flourish 
about 1835, have given it first rank. As is shown by the table below 
the population has generally shown a steady increase in each census 
period. In the decade from 1870 to 1880 there is a large apparent 
decrease, due to the separation of Thomaston. As Thomaston had 
a population of 3,255 in 1880, the territory as a whole gained. The 
population in 1920 was 5,942. 





Population of Plymouth, 1800-1910 a 




Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1800 


1,791 
1,882 
1,758 
2,064 


1840 


2,205 
2,568 
3,244 
4,149 


1880.... 


2,350 


1810 


1850 


1890 


2,147 


1820 


I860 


1900 


2,828 


1830. 


1870 


1910 


5,021 











a Conneicticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 655. 

The principal industries of Plymouth are agriculture, cutting of 
domestic lumber, and the manufactiu'e of locks, wood screws, cast- 
ings, and thermometers. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Plymouth is essentially a plateau, deeply dissected in the south 
and less deeply in the north. From the lowest point, in a vaUey west 
of Greystone, 390 feet above sea level, there is a range in elevation of 
610 feet to the highest point, a flat hilltop ui the southeast comer of 
the town, 1,000 feet above sea level. Pine Hill, south of Plymouth 
village. Holts Hill, and an unnamed hill north of the village are of 
about 980 feet elevation and mark the surface of the dissected 
plateau. 

In the vaUeys of Poland Kiver and Marsh Brook, in the north- 
eastern part of the town, and Todd Hollow Brook, in the southern 
part, fair-sized flood plains of stratified drift have been built. The 
deposits along Todd Hollow Brook were formed of the excess load of 
detritus that the brook and its tributaries carried in their upper 



PLYMOUTH. 179 

reaches but that they had to drop in the flatter, more slowly flowing 
lower reaches. The deposits of the plauis of Poland lliver and 
Marsh Brook, though contniuous with tho thick deposits of the 
Pequabuck Valley (see Bristol report, p. 83), extend to higher eleva- 
tions and are probably flood-plani rather than delta deposits. They 
are analogous to those of Todd Hollow, but are probably older— that 
is, of late glacial rather than postglacial age. 

Pl3rmouth is on the divide between the Connecticut and Nauga- 
tuck di'ainage basins. Pequabuck River, with its ])rincipal tribu- 
tary Poland Eiver, drauis about 6 square miles in the nortlieastern 
part of the town. A float measurement made June 2, 1915, on Poland 
River a short distance above the juction of Marsh Brook, showed a 
flow of 3 J second-feet. A narrow strip along the west bomidary is 
drained by a nimiber of small brooks that empty into Naugatuck 
River, but the rest of the town is drained by Todd Hollow Brook. A 
float measurement on the west branch of this stream made a mile 
north of Hancock on May 29, 1915, showed a flow of 2^ second-feet. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Schist and gneiss. — Four varieties of bedrock have been recog- 
nized in Plymouth — the Hoosac schist, Thomaston granite gneiss, 
amphibolite, and Waterbury gneiss.®- 

The oldest of these is the Hoosac schist, in which mica and quartz 
are the dominant minerals, with garnet, staurolite, feldspar, and 
other minerals as accessories. The mica is in the form of parallel 
flakes and gives the rock its cleavable schistose structure. Tho rock 
ranges from light to dark gray in color, and in many places the mica 
gives it a glistening, silvery luster. In some places there is a great 
abundance of thin injected sheets and dikelets that quite alter the 
character of the schist. 

The Thomaston granite gneiss, so called because of its excellent 
exposures in the town of Thomaston, is a medium fine-grained 
granite of light color, composed of feldspar, quartz, and mica, with 
small amounts of accessory minerals. In some places mashing has 
segregated the mica into dark-colored bands that give the rock a 
gneissic texture. There are two areas of this granite gneiss in 
Plymouth — one along the northern part of the west boundary and one 
in the southwest comer. The rock has been intruded into tlie 
schists and is probably related to the thin sheets and dikelets in the 
schist. 

There have also been intrusions of hornblende diorite that have 
been metamorphosed to amphibolite, a dark-colored rock of gneissic 
texture, consisting essentially of feldspar and green hornblende with 

«2 Gregory, H. E., and Robinson, H. H., Preliminary geological map of Connecticut: Connecticut 
Geol. and Nat. Hist. Sur\'ey Bull. 7, 1907. 



180 GROUITD WATER IN SOUTHII^GTOIT-GEANBY AREA, CONN. 



subordinate amounts of garnet, quartz, and epidote.^^ This rock is 
found both as massive intrusions of moderate size and as thin dikes 
and sheets in the schist. There is a large covering, about 100 acres, 
a mile southwest of Pine Hill. 

The term Waterbury gneiss has been applied to a rather varied 
group of rocks formed by the injection into the schists of great 
amounts of granitic and quartzose material and lesser amounts of 
hornblendic lavas. The rock is in a sense transitional between the 
massive granite gneisses and amphibolites and the schist. 

The four bedrock formations of Plymouth are essentially alike as 
regards their capacity for containing and yielding ground water. A 
little water is carried in minute pores between the constituent grains 
and flakes, but it is insignificant in amount. These rocks are cut 
by numerous joints and fissures made by the jostling and crushing 
to which they have been subjected. These openings are abundant 
near the surface but less so in depth because of the compression of the 
great weight of overlying rock. Water which has fallen as rain and 
soaked into the ground will work its way into the complicated system 
of fractures and may be recovered by means of drilled wells, five of 
which were visited in Plymouth. The wells of the Terryville Water 
Co. have been abandoned because the supplies they yielded were not 
sufficient for the needs of the company. 

TiU. — Over the bedrock of most of Plvmouth is a mantle of o-lacial 
tiU 40 feet or more in maximum thickness. It is a heterogeneous 
mixture of rock debris of all sizes from the finest of rock flour up to 
boulders weighing tons, made by the plowing and scraping action 
of the glacier and finally plastered over the bedrock. The term 
''hardpan" often applied to tiU is very appropriate, for the rock 
flour binds the other constituents together and makes a very tough 
deposit. Despite its compactness and toughness tiU has considerable 
pore space and contains in most places and seasons ground water 
enough to supply domestic dug weUs. Wells in disadvantageous 
positions, as on steep slopes or where the till is thin, will be likely 
to fail. Measurements of 112 weUs dug in till were made in Plymouth, 
and the depth to water was found to average 10 feet and to range 
from 1.6 feet in well No. 124b (see PL III) to 28.7 feet in weU No. 
97. The rehability of 95 of these weUs was ascertained; 54 were 
said never to fail and 41 were said to fail. Careful studies of Mr. 
H. W. Cleaveland's weU (No. 12) show the slowness and smaUness 
of the supply in tiU wells. (See p. 49.) 

Stratified drift. — The surface material in certain other parts of 
Plymouth, as shown on the map (PL II) and in the section on surface 
features, is stratified drift. This deposit has been made in large 
part by the reworking of the tiU by running water, so that the finer 

63 Rice, W. N.,and Gregory, H. E., Manual of the geology of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. and 
Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 6, p. 112, 1906. 



PLYMOUTH. 



181 



grains of clay, rock flour, and silt have been removed from the sand 
and gravel. Although the total pore space in the stratified drift is 
not much greater than that of the till, the individual pores are larger 
and allow more rapid circulation of the ground water. Wells in 
stratified drift give more abundant and more reliable supplies in 
general than till wells. The average depth to water in the 27 wells 
dug in stratified drift that were measured in Plymouth was 12 
feet, and the range from 2.6 feet in well No. 115 (see PL III) to 19 
feet in well No. 135. Of these wells 18 were said never to fail and 
3 were said to fail; the reliability of the other 6 wells was not as- 
certained. 

RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Plymouth. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 



1 
2 
3 

4 

5 
6 
7 
8 
10 

11 

12 

13 
14 

15 
16 

17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
27 
29 
30 
31 
32 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
46 
47 
48 
49 

50 
51 



Owner. 



J. Nodine. 



H.W.Cleavelajid. 



J. Schrobback. 



J. H. Croft. 



E. A. Beach. 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Slope.. 
...do... 
...do... 
HiUtop. 



...do.. 
...do.. 
Slope. 
...do.. 
...do.. 



..do... 
..do... 



.do., 
.do.. 



.do... 
-do.. 



...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
Hilltop. 
Slope.. 
...do... 
Hilltop. 
Slope . . . 

...do 

...do... 
Plateau 
...do... 
Slope . . . 
...do... 
...do-... 
Plateau 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
Slope . . . 

. . do 

..do.... 
..do.... 
Hilltop. 
Slope.. . 
..do 

Hilltop.. 
..do 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 
740 
730 
820 
905 

905 
905 
810 
700 
730 

720 
700 

fi30 
580 

620 
680 



Depth 

of 
well. 



Feet. 
16.3 
20.8 
28.0 
13.6 

25.3 
15.7 
7.0 
15.0 
12.1 

16.2 
24.0 

9.1 
10.9 

20.5 
14.9 



760 


19.6 


700 


17.0 


725 


21.7 


725 


11.0 


710 


12.6 


790 


22.4 


940 


20.0 


945 


18.4 


930 


14.7 


760 


17.9 


765 


20. 


760 


20.3 


760 


13.2 


740 


10.4 


7.50 


15.9 


700 


20.3 


920 


13.9 


870 


12.1 


860 


19.8 


970 


25.0 


970 


19.7 


970 


21.9 


885 


20.3 


795 


15.9 


790 


21.3 


745 


18.4 


785 


12.1 


770 


13.8 


770 


15.4 


845 


17.4 


845 


19.0 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 

9.0 

9.7 

12.5 

6.0 

8.1 
7.8 
2.1 
7.9 
4.3 

15.2 
15.2 

2.6 
4.9 

1.5.0 

7.8 

8.2 
13.6 
13.5 

3.8 

6.9 
16.5 
14.0 
17.1 
11.1 

9.4 
17. 
12.8 

5.3 

4.2 
11 
15. 

7. 

9. 
11 
18.0 
10.4 
13.4 
13.8 

9.9 
10.6 
12.8 

3.9 

6.7 



7.4 
9.5 



Method of lift. 



Remarks. 



Windlass rig 

do 

House pump 

Windlass rig and 

house pump. 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 

do 

Pitcher pump and 

house pump. 

Windlass rig 

Air-pressiu-e system 

Windlass rig 

Windlass rig and 

two house pumps. 

Windlass rig 

Windlass rig and 

house pump. 
Two house pumps. . 

Windlass rig 

do 

do 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

do 

do 



Windlass rig 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Wheel and axle rig. 
Windlass rig 

(^)-: 

Cham pump 

Windlass ng 

Chain pump 

Windlass ng 

Chain pump 

do 

Windlass rig 

do 

Two house pumps. 

Wheel and axle rig . 
Windlass rig 



a Pumping test made, see p. 49. 
b No rig. 



c Rock bottom. 

d Dug 7 feet into rock. 



Rock bottom; fails. 

Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Do. 

Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 



Unfailing; for anal- 
ysis see p. 184.0 
Unfailing. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

FaUs. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Fails; for assay see 
p. 184. c 

Unfailing; for assay 
see p. 184.d 



Water flows in from a crack. 



182 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 





Dug wells t 


mding 


in till in Plymouth — Continued 




No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of 

well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


52 




Hilltop.. 
Slope... 
Ridge... 
Slope.. . 
...do 


Feet. 
840 
820 
840 
810 
800 
850 
840 
760 
710 
700 
700 
700 
745 

750 
640 
660 
820 
880 
870 
890 
870 
825 
825 
720 
740 
780 
645 
720 
640 
695 
730 
725 
720 
730 
730 
705 

720 
6-10 
715 
630 
635 
855 
715 
565 
560 
580 

760 
850 
580 
720 
600 
500 
520 
460 
880 

895 
875 
880 
635 
810 
810 
780 
645 
570 
770 
740 
740 
790 


Feet. 
17.7 
13.2 
18.4 
23.4 
13.9 
28.1 
22.2 
12.0 
24.8 
12.0 
25.5 
22.7 
17.9 

13.2 

18.9 

26.3 

11.3 

24 

21.8 

13.9 

11.0 

18.6 

15.3 

27.9 

14.6 

15.6 

27.0 

14.9 

10.8 

14.0 

17:6 

11.3 

14 

12.5 

30.9 

13.7 

13.6 
28.8 
18.1 
17.2 

9.4 
14.3 
20.7 

8.0 
19.3 
18.0 

13.1 
20.1 
27.6 
19.5 

9.9 
25.7 
10.2 

9.8 
20.6 

12.5 

9.0 
15.2 

8.5 
16.0 
12.7 

9.3 
14.4 

7.6 
21.1 
16.6 
17.9 
21.4 


Feet. 

10.0 
7.6 

10.2 
9.4 
6.5 
9.9 
6.4 
5.9 
8.7 
4.0 
9.6 

11.0 

13.9 

10.0 

14.0 

13.1 

3.7 

19 

8.4 

6.7 

6.0 

9.9 

8.2 

10.4 

5.4 

8.2 

25.0 

4.4 

7.7 

8.9 

11.6 

4.4 

4 

10.0 

28.7 

11.9 

7.5 
26.1 
14.4 
13.9 

2.6 

9.7 
13.2 

2.8 
13.5 
12.8 

5.2 

13.5 

22.0 

11.0 

4.9 

13.6 

6.3 

6.6 

8.7 

5.0 

1.6 

5.0 

5.4 

11.9 

7.S 

3.0 

9.8 

3.2 

16.6 

12.7 

15.6 

21.0 


Windlass rig 

do . . 


Fails 


53 






54 




do 




55 




do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


56 




do 


57 
58 


W.J. Church.... 


...do.... 
...do 


do 

House pump 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

One-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

House pump 

do 


Do. 
Do. 


59 




...do 




60 




do .. 




61 




Plain... 
do .. . 


Do. 


62 




Do.a 


63 




...do 


Do. 


64 




Slope.. . 

...do.... 
...do 


Rock bottom; un- 


65 
68 




do 

Windlass rig 

do 


failing. 
Rock bottom; fails. 


72 




...do 


Unfailing. 


73 




Slope... 
...do 


do 


Do. 


74 




do 


Do. 


75 




HUltop.. 
Slope... 
..do 


do 


Do. 


77 




do 


Do. 


78 




do 


Do. 


79 




Hilltop.. 
...do 


do 


Fails. 


80 




do 


Do. 


82 




Slope... 
...do 


do 




83 




do 




89 




...do 


House pump 

Windlass rig 

do 


Tiled. 


90 




Plain... 
Slope. .. 
..do 


Abandoned; fails. 


91 




Unfailiug. 
Do. 


92 




Sweep rig 


93 




.do 


do 


Fails. 


93a 




..do ... 


Windlass rig 

do 


Do.& 


94 




Plain... 
...do 


Do. 


95 




Graxity system 

Windlass rig 

Deep-well pump 

Windlass and coun- 
terbalance rig. 
do 


Unfailing. 
Fails. 


96 




...do 


97 




...do 


Do. 


98 




...do 


Do. 


99 




Slope... 
Plain... 
..do 


UnMling. 
Fails. 


110 




Windlass rig 

do 


112 




Do. 


114 




...do 


Chain pump 

(c) 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


115 




Slope. .. 
...do 


117 




Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

do 


Fails. 


121 




...do 


UnMling. 
Do. 


122 




-do -. 


123 




Swale... 
Slope. .. 

...do 


do 


Do. 


124 




Windlass rig and 
house pump. 

Windlass rig 

Two hoiTse pumps. . . 

Windlass rig 

do 


Do. 


125 






126 




Plateau. 
Slope. .. 
...do 


Do. 


130 




Fails. 


132 




Unfailing. 
Fails. 


133 




...do 


do 


139 




...do 


Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Pitcher pump 

Windlass rig and 

house pump, 
(c) 


UnfaUine. 


140 




..do 


Do. 


141 




...do 


Do. 


142 
142a 


G. R. Duff 

do 


Plateau. 
...do 


Fails; for assay see 

p. 184.d 
Unfailing, d 


142b 


do 


...do 


(c) 


Fails.fi 


142c 


do 


...do 


(c) 


'Do.d 


143 




Slope. .. 
...do 






144 




Sweep rig 


Do. 


144a 




...do 


do 


Unfailing.* 
Do. 


145 




...do 


Windlass rig 

do 


146 




.do ... 


Fails. 


147 




Plain... 

Plateau. 

Slope. .. 

...do 


do 


Do. 


148 




do 


Rock bottom; fails. 


150 




do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


151 




do 


153 




.do 


(C) 















o Depth of water never less than 4 feet; sometimes rises to surface. 
b 200 feet east of well No. 93. 
c No rig. 

d Well No. 142 is at the house. Well No. 142a is 1,350 feet south of No. 142. 
northeast of No. 142. Well No. 142c is 400 feet west of No. 142. 
e Is 100 feet northwest of well No. 144. 



Well No. 142b is 300 feet 



PLYMOUTH. 



183 



Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Plymouth. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


66 




Slope. . . 
...do 


Feet. 
6S5 
690 
670 
670 
670 
639 
615 
785 

785 
660 
620 
645 
625 
615 
620 
625 
650 

630 
580 
550 
535 
490 
495 
500 
700 


Feet. 
28.8 
27.1 
10.4 
10.6 
14.6 
13.0 
11.0 
18.4 

18.9 
21.2 
10.1 
13.6 
9.4 
19.7 
15.9 
20.8 
10.5 

24.0 
19.8 
11.9 
16.7 
21.1 
18.2 
20.0 
19.8 


Feet. 

15.6 

16.4 

51 

6.8 

9.9 

7.9 

7.9 

14.3 

13.9 

18.2 

8.2 

7.9 

5.7 

16.0 

13.4 

17.8 

7.8 

18.1 
15.2 
6.7 
11.8 
19.0 
13.9 
14.4 
16.0 


Chain pump 

Windlass 




67 




Unfailiijj;. 
Do 


70 




Plain... 
...do 


do . . . 


71 




House pump 

Windlass 


Do 


85 




Slope. .. 

Swale... 

Plain... 

...do 


Do 


87 




do.. 


Abandoned 


88 




Chain pump 

Windlass and house 

pump. 
Wmdlass 


Unfailing. 
Do 


100 




101 




...do.... 


Do. 


102 




Swale... 
Plain. . . 
...do 


do 


Do. 


103 




Chain piunp 

Windlass... 


Do 


104 






106 




...do 


(a) 


Do. 


107 




...do 


Chain pump 

Two house pumps . . 
Windlass 




108 




...do 


Do. 


109 




Slope. . . 
Plain... 

...do 


Do 


113 




Chain pxmip and 
house pump. 

House pump 

Windlass 


Do 


116 




Do 


127 




Slope.... 
...do 


Fails 


129 




do 


Do 


131 


C. Cleaveland 


...do.... 

Plain... 
...do.... 

Slope. . . 
...do 


do 


Unfailing. 
Fails. 


135 


do 


136 
137 
152 


Michael Cronin.. 
J. M. Scarritt.... 


do 

do 

do 


Unfailing. 













o No rig. 
Drilled wells in Plymouth. 



No. 

on 

PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diame- 
ter. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Water- 
bearing 
forma- 
tion. 


Remarks. 


33 


E. R. Lack- 
more. 

F. A. Wellman . 
Terry vi lie 

Water Co. 
do 


Knoll... 

Slope... 
...do 

...do 


Feet. 
750 

730 
840 

700 
690 
650 

780 


Feet. 
100 

108 
150 

100 
370 
152 

100 


Feet. 


Inches. 


Gallons. 
1 

li 
10 

6 30 

4-14 

1 


Gneiss . . 

Schist... 
...do.... 

...do.... 

...do 

Gneiss . . 

...do.... 


Bored well.o 


69 

76 

81 


11 

20 

30 or 40 
80 or 90 

47 

10 


6 

8" 

6 

6 


Cost $5 per foot. 


84 


High School 


...do 




86 
118 


E.Grant Austin. 
G.E.Holt 


...do.... 
...do.... 


For analysis 
see p. 184. 

Bored well, 
cost $3 per 
foot; for 
assay see p. 
184. 



o Water enters at depth of 70 feet. 

b Water obtained only from the imconsolidated mantle rock. 

c 10 gallons a minute at 300 feet depth; 15 gallons a minute at full depth. 

Springs in Plymouth. 



Owner. 



Town Farm. 



S, Johnson. 



Topographic 
position. 



Swale . 
Slope.. 
Swale 
Slope . 
Swale . 
Slope . 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do.. 
Swale . 



Eleva- 






tion 


Tem- 


Yield 


above 


pera- 


per 


sea 


ture. 


minute. 


level. 






Feet. 


" F. 


Galls. 


560 


54 


2 


840 


49 




770 


(a) 




760 


47 




630 


54 


Strong 


790 


49 




810 


46 




580 


54 




530 


53 




535 


47 




760 


52 





Remarks. 



Unfailing. 
Piped to house. 

Pumped from the house. 



Piped to house. 

Do. 
Piped to house; imfailing. 

Do. 
Fails; pimiped to house. 



o 51° in the full run. 



184 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHIKGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and four assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Plymouth are given below. All the waters are 
low in mineral content except No. 86, which is moderately mineral- 
ized. Nos. 86 and 12 are soft; the rest are very soft. The waters are 
of the calcium-carbonate type except Nos. 86 and 142, which are 
sodium-chloride and sodium-carbonate waters, respectively. With 
the exception of No. 86 aU the waters are suitable for domestic use, 
although No. 51 is only fair. There are several objections to' No. 86; 
the chloride and nitrate are exceptionally high for Plymouth and 
indicate possible pollution, sufficient iron is present to stain porcelain 
and clothes, and the water has a shghtly disagreeable taste. No. 51 also 
contains a sufficient quantity of iron to be somewhat objectionable 
in domestic use. Although three of the waters. No. 12, 86, and 49, 
are on the border Hne between corrosion and noncorrosion of boilers, 
aU six waters are considered good for use in boilers, because foam- 
ing and scale formation would be at a minimum. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Plymouth. 

[Parts per miUioii; collected Nov. 20, 1915; S. C. Dinsmore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns refer 
to corresponding numbers on PI. IH; see also records corresponding in ntunber, pp. 181^183.] 





Analyses, a 


Assays. & 




12 


86 


49 


51 


118 


142 


Silica (Si02) 


14 

.25 
15 
3.6 

13 
.0 

61 

18 
8.0 
Trace. 
102 
c52 

64 

35 

Ca-COs 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 


20 

1.5 
16 

5.7 

53 

.0 
65 
5.7 

77 

14 
222 
C63 

77 
140 

Na-Cl 

Good. 
Fair./ 










Iron (Fe) 


0.20 


1.5 


Trace. 


Trace. 


Calcium (Ca) 




Magnesium (Mg) 










Sodiiun and potassium 
(Na+K)c... 


1 



29 

Trace. 

5 




34 
5 
5 


5 



65 

Trace. 

3 


12 


Carbonate radicle {CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) . . . 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (01) 




24 

Trace. 

8 


Nitrate radicle (NO3) 




Total dissolved solids . . . 


c48 

28 

45 
(d) 

Ca-COs 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 


c60 
28 
45 
20 

Ca-COa 

N 
Good. 
Fair./ 


c76 
48 
65 
10 

Ca-COa 

N 
Good. 
Good. 


c49 


Total hardness as CaCOa 

Scale-forming constituents c. . . 
Foaming constituentsc 

Chemical character 


6 
20 
30 

Na-COs 


Probability of corrosion* 

Quality for boiler use 


N 
Good. 


Quality for domestic use ...... 


Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

& Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Computed. 

d Less than 10 parts per million. 

« Based on computed value; (?)=corrosion uncertain; N= noncorrosive. 

/ See discussion of quality of water. 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY. 



TerryviUe has been supplied with water since 1893 by the Terry- 
viUe Water Co. Water from two small spring-fed reservoirs on 
Town Hill is delivered by gravity to 10 fire hydrants and 286 
private-service connections. The pressure averages about 80 pounds 



PROSPECT. 



185 



to the square inch. As these reservoirs do not yield an adequate sup- 
ply it has been necessary to find auxiliaries. Attempts were made to 
obtain water by means of drilled wells, of which three were sunk but 
were unsuccessful. At present a third reservoir on a branch of 
Pequabuck River west of the village is used, and at some seasons 
this is fm-ther supplemented by pumping from Pequabuck River. 
A three-stage centrifugal pump driven by a 25-horsepower electric 
motor is used. Terryville is topographically very poorly situated 
for the development of public water supplies, as it is about as high 
as any of the streams that might be used, so that economical delivery 
is hard to arrange. Poland River, from which an excellent supply 
might be obtained, is controlled by the Bristol waterworks, and 
Thomaston controls the headwaters of Todd Hollow Brook. 

PROSPECT. 
AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Prospect is a highland farming town in the north-central part of 
New Haven County, on the eastern edge of the western highland. 
The only settlement is the spread-out village known as '' the Center. " 
The mail service for the whole town is by rural delivery. The 
Meriden-Waterbury branch of the New York, New Haven & Hart- 
ford Railroad crosses the northeast corner of the town and has flag 
stations at Prospect Station and at Summit, just across the Cheshire 
boundary. The New Haven- Waterbury trolley line follows closely 
the line of the steam road and is the chief means of communication. 
Prospect has an area of about 15 square miles, of which half is 
wooded. There are 44 miles of dirt roads, which are kept in as good 
condition as the rugged topography and sparse population allow. 

The territory which now forms Prospect was taken from Cheshire 
and Waterbury in 1827 and incorporated. Early in the nineteenth 
century there was some manufacturing of hardware, shoes, and 
matches at small mills on the streams. These industries have died 
out because of the competition of bigger concerns elsewhere, and 
now the people are dependent on agriculture or on employment in 
neighboring towns. The population in 1910 was 539. The follow- 
ing table shows that the changes in population have been moderate 
in amount but not constant in direction. 

Population of Prospect, 1830-1910. a 



Year. 


Popula- 
tion. 


1830 


651 
548 
666 


1840 


1850 





Year. 



1860 
1870 
1880 



Popula- 
tion. 



574 
551 
492 



Year. 



1890 
1900 
1910 



Popula- 
tion. 



445 
563 
539 



a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 655. 



186 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Prospect is a dissected plateau whose remnants range in elevation 
from 800 to 880 feet above sea level. The town has a total relief of 
640 feet. The lowest point is where Tenmile River crosses the north 
boundary, at an elevation of 240 feet above sea level, and the highest 
point is a fiat hill three-quarters of a mile south of the Center, with 
an elevation of 880 feet. The drainage pattern on this plateau is 
irregular, but along its eastern margin there is a straight valley 
occupying an area of relatively soft sandstone between a trap ridge 
on the east and an area of granite gneiss on the west. Roaring 
Brook drains the southern part of this valley, and one of the tribu- 
taries of Tenmile River the northern part. Probably the drainage 
prior to the glacial epoch went to the north throughout the length 
of this valley, but for a while the ice dammed the valley, making a 
lake in which a considerable thickness of sediments was deposited. 
The lake found an outlet across a low point in the sag, and by the 
time the ice had completely retreated the outlet channel had been 
cut down so deep that the upper part of the valley continued to 
follow it. Most of the brooks di'aining Prospect are tributary to 
Naugatuck River, but some join Mill River and some Quinnipiac 
River. A rough float measurement of Tenmile River made on May 
8, 1915, near the pomt where it crosses the Cheshire town line indi- 
cated a flow of 4.5 second-feet. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

There are ^ve varieties of bedrock underlying Prospect — the 
Waterbury gneiss, Hoosac schist. Prospect porphyritic granite gneiss, 
and the Triassic sandstone and trap.®* 

Trap rock. — The intrusive trap sheet which crops out along much 
of the western boundary of the central lowland follows the eastern 
boundary of Prospect for about 3 miles. The town line runs ap- 
proximately on the crest of the westward-facing cliff formed by the 
upturned edge of the tilted trap sheet. On account of its inaccessible 
position and its small areal extent the trap is of little importance as 
a source of ground water. 

Sandstone. — Underlying the trap sheet and dipping with it to the 
east is several hundred feet of red sandstone which was deposited 
as a nearly horizontally bedded filling of a great valley that occu- 
pied central Coimecticut in Triassic time. Not very long after the 
consolidation or partial consolidation of this filling the trap sheet 
was forced mto it, and still later the whole mass was tilted. Shrink- 
age of the sediments in drymg and of the trap in cooling had im- 

M Gregory, H. E., and Robinson, H. H., Preliminary geological map of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. 
and Nat. Hist. Sui-vey Bull, 6, 1906. 



PROSPECT. 187 

doubtedly made many cracks and fissures, but more were made by 
the jarring and crushing incident to the tilting. These cracks are to 
a large extent filled with water that has percolated in from the OAer- 
]ying surface materials. Wells drilled into the sandstone ought to 
procure supplies of water from these openings, but no such develop- 
ment has been made in Prospect. It is very likely that the trap 
sheet acts as a somewhat impervious blanket and prevents the water 
from seepmg out to the east. The sandstone underlies a strip from 
a few hundred feet to a quarter of a mile wide in the valley west of 
the trap ridge but crops out only in a few places. 

Gneiss and schist. — The Prospect porphyritic granite gneiss crops 
out here and there in a strip IJ miles wide lying west of and parallel 
to the narrow sandstone belt. It is a grayish rock consisting of 
quartz, feldspar, and mica with small amounts of accessory minerals. 
The mica crystals or flakes are to some extent concentrated in cer- 
tain planes in which they are arranged in roughly parallel position 
so that they give the rock a foliated, gneissic structiu'e. Some of 
the feldspar crystals have developed, into large crystals or pheno- 
crysts, which give the rock its porphyritic character. 

The Hoosac schist underlies a belt half a mile to a mile wide west 
of the granite gneiss area. It is a typical gray schist composed es- 
sentially of flakes of mica and grains of quartz with some grains of 
accessory minerals. The mica flakes in part enwrap the quartz 
grains but are for the most part roughly parallel and so give the rock 
its characteristic schistose cleavage and structure. Many thin sheets 
and dikes of quartzose material have been injected into the schist. 
The sheets — that is, the injections that follow the cleavage— are 
the more abundant. 

The Waterbury gneiss is somewhat similar to the Hoosac schist 
and is believed by Gregory ®^ to be merely a modification of it. So 
much of the igneous material has been injected in parts of the schist 
that its character is completely altered, making rock so different as 
to be a separate formation. Most of the injections are quartzose, 
but some are dark hornblendic lavas. 

The dynamic forces to which these schists and gneisses have been 
subjected have made many fissures and joints in them. Water 
percolates from the saturated parts of the overlying mantle rock into 
the intricate network of channels. Wells drilled into these rocks are 
very likely to cut one or more water-bearing fissures within a rea- 
sonable distance, and thus obtain a satisfactory supply of water. 
The Grange and Parsonage wells (Nos. 25 and 26, PL III) are in the 
Hoosac schist. Mr. Hufnagle's well (No. 48) is in the Waterbury 

66 Rice, W. N., and Gregory, H. E., Manual of the geology of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. and 
Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 6, p. 100, 1906. 



188 



GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



gneiss. The driller described the material from which the water 
came as trap rock, but it is more probably one of the hornblendic 
masses. 

Till. — Most of Prospect has a mantle of till over the bedrock. 
The till is a stiff, clayey material with which is mixed a greater or less 
amount of sand, gravel, and boulders. It is the ground-up debris 
that the glacier pushed along and plastered over the bedrock. On 
account of the fineness of much of the material it is a rather imper- 
vious deposit. However, it holds water in quantities sufficient for 
supplymg dug wells, but it gives the water out rather slowly. Meas- 
urements were made of 68 wells dug in till in Prospect. The depth 
to water in them ranged from 3.1 feet in well No. 2 (see PI. Ill) to 
26.3 feet in well No. 45 and averaged 11.4 feet. Of these wells 32 
were said to be nonf ailing and 21 were said to fail in dry seasons; 
the reliability of the remaining 15 wells was not ascertained. 

Stratified drift. — There are three areas in Prospect where the sur- 
face material is stratified drift. Half a mile west of the Center there 
is a broad, flat depression in which water-borne debris has been de- 
posited. Presumably this material is fine grained and impervious, 
for the ground is rather marshy. No wells were foimd in this area, 
but the gromid-water conditions are at least fair. Near the western 
boundary and parallel to it there is a strip a quarter of a mile wide 
by three-quarters of a mile long in which there is a somewhat coarser 
deposit of stratified drift, and along part of the eastern bomidary 
there is a more extensive area. Both of these are in valleys which 
appear to have been temporarily danmied by the ice sheet as it 
melted back. Small lakes were formed south of the ice front into 
which the detritus was washed. Four wells that draw their water 
from these deposits w^ere measured, and their average depth to water 
was found to be 13.4 feet. 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Prospect. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Hilltop.. 
Slope. . . 
...do.. . 


Feet. 
800 
755 
7G5 
625 
760 

760 
795 
860 
860 


Feet. 
17.5 
13.9 
21.3 
22.6 
15.4 

22.8 
11.5 
22.8 
21.9 


Feet. 

6.8 

3.1 

12.5 

12.9 

8 

10.3 
10.0 
10.4 
12.2 


House pump 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

Sweep rig and house 

pump. 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

...do 


Rock bottom; fails. 


2 




Unfailing. 


3 




Do. 


5 




Hilltop.. 
Slope. .. 

.do.. . 


43° F.; fails. 


7 




Unfailing. 
Do. 


8 




9 


k 


.do.. . 


Do. 


10 




Plateau 
...do.... 


Do. 


11 


Wm. E.Clarke.. 


Chain pump and 
house pump. 


Unfaihng; for analy- 
sis see p. 191. 



PROSPECT. 
Dug wells ending in till in Prospect — Continued. 



189 



No. 
on 
ri. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lilt. 


Remarks. 


12 




Slope. . . 
...do. . .. 


Feet. 
800 
805 
825 
820 
650 
720 
760 
820 
865 
865 
860 
875 
865 
860 
865 
865 
740 
560 
590 
625 
580 
585 
590 

550 

625 
635 
670 
700 
250 
400 
440 
460 
650 
775 
785 
770 
860 
880 
695 
705 
685 
740 
620 
710 
750 
700 
655 
600 
615 
615 
680 
670 
695 
710 
725 
690 
660 
605 
615 


Feet. 
8.9 
19.7 
14.7 
15.4 
12.1 
22.6 
17.7 
22.2 
22.9 
21.1 
12.5 
18.3 
18.0 
27.3 
18.4 
26.0 
28.2 
16.0 
25.8 
20.0 
13.8 
19.3 
22.0 

18.9 

20.3 
21.4 
16.5 
21.6 
24.0 
25.4 
17.3 
30.1 
15.0 
18.5 
25.1 
20.0 
27.9 
16.7 
15.8 
9.0 
10.4 
29.7 
16.0 
14.6 
13.8 
12.2 
22.2 
22.1 
22.8 
16.4 
19.4 
15.0 
20.6 
21.7 
30.2 
12.8 
14.4 
27.0 
21.3 


Feet. 

3.4 

12.3 

5.5 

4.4 

2.9 

19.4 

8.9 

14.2 

12.7 

11.7 

8.9 

13.5 

8.5 

9.6 

10.5 

18.3 

13.4 

11.6 

14.6 

8.3 

4.7 

14.0 

13.4 

13.0 

10.1 

9.6 

8.9 

■ 14.4 

8.0 

20.4 

10.8 

26.3 

5.5 

12.2 

20.9 

15.0 

11.5 

8.0 

7.5 

3.0 

3.7 

23.3 

12.8 

7.3 

8. 

9.0 

13.9 

12.5 

15.1 

13.3 

12.3 

9.3 

18.5 

7.9 

22.4 

7.6 

5.4 

19.5 

14.8 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 


Unfailing. 


13 






14 




.do 


Do. 


15 




...do 




16 




.do 


Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

do 


Do. 


17 




...do.... 


Fails. 


18 




...do.... 


Do. 


19 




.do.. . 


Do. 


20 




Plateau . 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 

House pump 




21 




Do. 


22 




...do.... 


Do. 


22a 




...do.... 


Gravity rig 


Unfailing.a 


23 




...do.. . 


Wheel and axle rig. . 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

(c) 


Do. 


24 




...do 


Do. 


25a 




...do 


Do.& 


27 




...do 


Rock bottom; fails. 


28 




Slope. . . 
.do. . . 


Abandoned. 


29 




Deep-well pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do.. . 




30 




...do.. . 


Fails. 


31 




Hilltop.. 
Slope. . . 
...do 


Unfailing. 


32 




Chain pump 

do 


Do. 


32a 




Do.d 


33 




.do. 


Windlass rig and 

house pump. 
Windlass rig and 

gasoline engine. 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 


Fails. 


34 




.do. 


Unfailing. 
Fails, 


35 




. -do.. . 


37 




...do.. . 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


38 




...do.. . 


39 




-do. . 


Do. 


41 




Plain... 
Slope... 
. .do. . . 


2-inch driven well. 


42 




Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 


Fails. 


43 




Do. 


45 




...do.. . 


Do. 


47 




...do.. . 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


49 




Hilltop., 
.do. . 


50 




Chain pump 


Fails. 


51 




Slope. . . 
.do. . . 


Abandoned. 


53 




Two-bucket rig 

do.. . 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


54 




. .do.. . 


56 




...do.. . 


Wheel and axle rig. . 
(c) 


Do. 


56a 





.do. 


Fails, c 


56b 




. .do.. . 


(c) 


Unfailing./ 


57 




. -do.. . 


Two-bucket rig 


58 




...do.. . 




59 




.do. 


Chain pump 

House pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Winlass rig. 


Fails. 


60 




.do. 


Do. 


61 




.do. . 


Do. 


62 




. .do. . . 


15 feet in rock; fails. 


63 




...do.. . 


Two-bucket rig 

. ...do. . . 




64 




...do.. . 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


65 




...do.. . 


Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

-do. . . 


66 




.do.. . 




67 




. -do.. . 




68 




...do.. . 


Do. 


69 




...do 


. . -do.. . 


Do. 


70 




Hilltop.. 

Slope. .. 

...do 

...do 


... .do 


Fails. 


71 




do 




72 
73 




do 


Abandoned. 


76 




...do.. . 


Two-bucket rig 


Unfailing. 









a 200 south of well No. 22. 
b 150 feet north of well No. 25. 
c No rig. 



d 150 feet south of well No. 32. 
« 150 feet west of well No. 56. 
/ 200 feet east of well No. 56. 



Strong flow. 



190 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in stratified drift in Prospect. 



No. 
on PI. 

m. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method Of lift. 


Remarks. 


44 




Slope... 
Plain... 

...do 


Feet. 
460 
595 

595 
595 


Feet. 
26.1 
18.6 

15.6 
21.7 


Feet. 

15.6 

9.8 

10.1 
18.2 


Deep- well pump 

Windlassand pulley 
rig and force pump. 
Windlass 


Unfailing. 
Unfailing; for assay 

see p. 191. 
Fails. 


74 
75 


Charles Kubic... 


77 




...do 


Windlassand pulley 

rig. 


Unfailing. 









Drilled wells in Prospect. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield 

per 
minute. 


Water- 
bearing 
forma- 
tion. 


Remarks. 


25 
26 


Grange Hall.... 
Parsonage 


Plateau. 
...do.... 


Feet. 
865 

860 

770 


Fed. 
72 

60 

50 


Feet. 

1 

11 


Inches. 
6 

6 

8 


Gallons. 
Low. 


Schist... 
...do 


Can be drawn dry 
temporarily. 

For assay see p. 
191. 

For analysis see 
p. 191. 


48 


F. M. Hufnagle. 


Slope.. . 


7 


(a) 



a Said to have been drilled in trap rock. It seems probable that this is really an amphibolitelens in the 
Waterbury gneiss, which would have a similar behavior under the drill. 

Springs in Prospect. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Yield per 
minute. 


Remarks. 


4 




Slope 


Feet. 
625 

730 

530 
240 
470 

715 
770 


°F. 
52 

47 

44 
47 
47 

45 
45 


Gallons. 
1 

4 

6 


Piped to horse trough; un- 


6 
36 


East Mountain Spring 

Water Co. 
A. D. Field 


do 

do 


failing. 
Unfailing; cement bottling 

house. 
Gravity rig; unfailing. 


40 




Plain 


In cellar. 


46 


T. A . Chatfleid 


Galley 

Slope 




Masonry basin; unfailing; 


52 


Clarke 


3 or 4 
Abundant. 


for assay seep. 191. 
Gravity rig; unfailing. 
Do. 


55 




do 











QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

Below are given the results of two analyses and three assays of 
samples of ground water collected in Prospect. The waters are of 
the calcium-carbonate type, low in mineral content, and suitable for 
general use. All are soft except No. 11, and it is by no means a hard 
water. They will deposit little scale and are otherwise apparently 
acceptable for use in boilers, although there is some possibility that 
they may corrode the boilers, their action depending upon the con- 
ditions occurring in actual practice. 



SIMSBURY. 



191 



Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Prospect. 

[Parts per million; collected Nov. 12, 1915; analyst, S. C. Dinsmore. Numbers at lieads of columns refer 
to corresponding well numbers on VI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 188-190.] 



Silica (Si02) 

Iron(Fe) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na+K)d. 

Carbonate radicle (COj) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI) 

Nitrate radicle (NOs) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOj. 

Scale-forming constituents <* 

Foaming constituents d 



Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion « 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use. . 



Analyses." 



11 



.05 



10 

14' 
5. 

6. 

49" 
14 
10 
5. 
96 
d59 
61 
17 



Ca-COa 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 



48 c 



13 

.05 
8.5 
2.0 
Trace. 
.0 
24 
.0 
4.0 
1.7 
47 
d29 
41 
Trace. 

Ca-C03 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



Assays.'' 



2ri 



d81 

48 
65 
10 

Ca-COs 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



46 



Trace. 


Trace. 


Trace. 








4 


3 


7 











38 


29 


32 


15 


3 


Trace. 


7 


4 


11 



d51 
26 
40 
10 

Ca-COa 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



d60 
27 
40 
20 

Car-COa 



'I 



ood. 
Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Collected Nov. 11, 1915. 

d Computed. 

« Based on computed value; (?)=corrosion uncertain. 

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

Prospect has no public water supply, but several of its drainage 
basins supply other towns. In the northwest comer of the town on 
tributaries of Beaverpond Brook there are two reservoirs belonging 
to the Waterbury system. Near the middle of the south boundary 
there is a 110,000,000-gallon reservoir which is part of the Naugatuck 
system. In the northeast comer, on the headwaters of Tenmile 
River, the New Haven Water Co. has a reservoir from which water 
is supplied to Cheshire, the various villages in Hamden, and some of 
the higher parts of the city of New Haven. 

siMSBimy. 



AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Simsbury is a lowland town a little northwest of the center of Hart- 
ford County. It contains three villages — Simsbury, near the center; 
Weatogue, 2 miles south; and Tariff ville, in the northeast comer. 
Hoskins, between Simsbury and Tariffville, and West Simsbury are 
smaller settlements. There are post offices and stores at all these 
places except Hoskins. The Northampton division (Canal Road) of 
the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad runs north and south 
through the town and has stations at Simsbury and Weatogue. The 
Central New England Railway runs in a general northeasterly direc- 
tion through the town and has stations at Tariffville and Simsbury, 



192 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHHsTGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

the latter used jointly with the Northampton division, and also flag 
stations at Hoskins and Stratton Brook. From Tariffville a branch 
of the Central New England Railway runs northward to Springfield, 
Mass. Stages run between Stratton Brook and West Simsbury and 
between Tariffville and the settlements in Granby. 

The area of Simsbury is about 31 square miles, of which 55 per 
cent is wooded. The woodlands are well distributed except for a 
cleared belt a mile wide along Farmington River and the neighbor- 
hood of West Simsbury. In the lowlands there are extensive stands 
of white pine {Pinus strobus) similar to those in Granby. (See Pl.VI, 
B.) There are about 66 miles of roads worked by the town, in part 
of macadam and in part of dirt construction. In addition there are 
9 miles of State trunk-line roads of bituminous macadam. The trunk 
line connecting Farmington and Granby runs through Weatogue, 
Simsbury, and Hoskins and is joined by a feeder from West Hartford 
at Weatogue. 

Simsbury was settled and incorporated in 1670 and then included 
the present territory of Canton and Granby and part of East Granby. 
Granby and the part of East Granby were taken away in 1786 and 
Canton in 1806. The population in 1910 was 2,537. The table below 
shows that since the separation of Canton in 1806 the population has 
mcreased in general, but that the periods from 1830 to 1840 and from 
1850 to 1880 show losses. The gain since 1880 has been due in part 
to the growth of the safety-fuse industry, in part to the cultivation 
of wrapper and binder tobacco, and in part to the development of 
country residences. 

Population of Simsbury , 1756 to 1910. 0' 





Year. 


Population. 


1756 


2,275 
3,700 
4,664 
2,576 
2,952 
1,966 


1774 


1782 


1790 


1800 


1810 - 







Year. 



1820 
1830 
1840 
1850 
1860 
1870 



Population. 



1,954 
2,221 
1,895 
2,737 
2, 410 
2,051 



Year. 



ISSO 
1890 
1900 
1910 



Population. 



1,830 
1,874 
2,094 
2,537 



« Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 655. 



The principal industries of Simsbury are agriculture, chiefly the 
raising of tobacco, and the manufacture of safety-fuse for igniting 
explosives. 



SURFACE FEATURES. 



The topographic elements of Simsbury are a central plam 3^ to 4 
miles wide; gently rounded hills that rise 100 to 200 feet above the 
plain; and two trap ridges, 150 to 700 feet high, boundmg the plain 
on the east and west. The total relief of the town is 840 feet. The 



SIMSBURY. 193 

highest point is on the crest of the eastern trap ridge (Talcott Moun- 
tain) near the south boundary and is 960 feet above sea level; the low- 
est point, where Farmington River leaves the town at Tariffville, is 
only 120 feet above sea level. 

The geologic structure of Simsbury is similar to that of Avon and 
may be understood from the section across that town (fig. 18). The 
section across Canton (fig. 22) extends a little way into Simsbury and 
should also be referred to. 

During the Triassic period central Connecticut was a broad valley 
into which were washed vast amounts of sand, clay, and gravel that 
were ultimately consolidated into sandstone, shale, and conglomerate. 
The process of deposition was interrupted three times by the quiet 
eruption of basaltic lava, which upon cooling became the intercalated 
trap sheets. The second eruption was the greatest and formed the 
thickest of the sheets. There was also intrusion of lava along a 
deeply buried horizon which eventually formed the trap sheet that 
follows much of the western boundary of the lowland. Subsequently 
the whole region was broken into fault blocks that were tilted to the 
east. Erosion has cut away the softer sediments, leaving the harder 
trap exposed as ridges and cliffs. The middle extrusive sheet is 
known as the ''Main" sheet, as it is the thickest and most prominent. 
The lower and upper sheets are known, respectively, as the ' ' Ante- 
rior" and ''Posterior" sheets, as they crop out on the cliff or face side 
and on the back of the ridge formed by the "Main" sheet. 

A number of faults forming minor blocks have been identified by 
Davis. ^^ Three of these cut and offset the intrusive sheet in the 
western part of Simsbury and make gaps in the ridge. One gap is 
followed by the Central New England Railway and a highway, and 
another is between the hills locally known as The Hedgehog and The 
Sugarloaf. Davis recognized eight faults cutting the eastern trap 
ridges within the limits of Simsbury. All bear west of north, but 
only two cause conspicuous offsetting of the ridge. One of these is 
followed by the Weatogue-West Hartford road, and the other con- 
ditioned the sag in the trap ridge that determined the eastward turn 
in the com"se of Farmington River at Tariffville. 

Prior to the glacial epoch the topography of this region was some- 
what more rugged than it is now, but the ice ground off many of the 
projections and plastered debris into the hollows. After the reces- 
sion of the ice sheet from Simsbury a lake was formed in the depres- 
sion between the trap ridges. On the north it was dammed by the 
ice sheet and on the south by a barrier of stratified drift near Plain- 

•56 Davis, W. M., The Triassic formation of Connecticut: U. S. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Rept., 
pt. 2, pi. 19, 1898. 

187118°— 21— wsp 466 13 



194 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

ville. The lowest point in the rim of the lake was a shallow sag in the 
trap ridge at Tariffville, and this became the outlet and was cut 
down to make a very picturesque gorge. ^^ It is probable that Sal- 
mon Brook (Granby) flowed northward through the sag in early 
Tertiary time, but that its flow was diverted to the south through 
headward erosion and stream captiu'e by a tributary of the Farming- 
ton. That the gorge is postglacial and not older is shown by the 
absence of glacial deposits from its walls and by its sharp, deep cross 
section. Were it older it would be wider and have gentle slopes, but 
it is so steep and narrow that there is no room for a road and one had 
to be blasted out of the rock. 

Between the long trap ridges is a rolling plain composed of the 
debris washed into the glacial lake. In the middle of this valley 
several hills rise 100 to 200 feet above the plain. These hills stand 
up presumably because they are underlain by a coarser and more 
resistant portion of the sandstone, and by virtue of their height they 
escaped burial by the sediments deposited in and around the lake. 

Simsbury is drained by Farmington River and smaller streams 
tributary to it. The Farmington flows northward past the foot of 
the west slope of Talcott Mountain. Some figures on the flow of this 
stream are given in the report on Farmington (p. 121). The prin- 
cipal tributary in Simsbury is Hop Brook, which is joined by Stratton 
Brook a little west of Simsbury and enters the Farmington near the 
southern part of the village. Nod Brook, which joins the Farmington 
in Avon, drains part of southwestern Simsbury, and a branch of 
Salmon Brook drains the northwest corner. Only short, steep brooks 
enter Farmington Eiver from the east. The results of several float 
measurements made in Simsbury are given in the following table: 

Float measurements of streams in Simsbury. 



Stream. 


Location. 


Second- 
feet. 


Date. 


A south branch of Salmon Brook 


Near "well No. 24 


1.6 

.5 

12 5 

1.8 

1.9 


Sept. 28,1915 
Sept. 24, 1915 
Sept. 27,1915 
July 9, 1915 




1 mile north of Weatogue 


Stratton Brook 


J mile above mouth 


Branch of Nod Brook 


Near well No. 56 


Do 


f mile south of well No. 58 









WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Sandstone and trap rock, — The attitude, character, and distribu- 
tion of the bedrocks of Simsbury have been described in the fore- 
going section. Both the sedimentary rocks and the trap are cut by 
fissures which, though they may have any position, tend to be par- 

67 Kiimmel, H. B., Some rivers of Connecticut: Jour. Geology, vol. 1, pp. 371-393, 1893. 



SIMSBURY. 195 

allel or normal to the plane of bedding. Some of the cracks are due 
to shrinkage through desiccation or cooling, but most of them are the 
result of the jostling and crushing to which the rocks were subjected 
during tilting. Water is carried in these fissures and may be recov- 
ered by means of drilled wells. The trap sheets are less satisfactory 
sources of water supply than the sedimentary rocks for two reasons. 
In the first place, on account of their bold topographic forms the trap 
sheets do not hold water as well as the less prominent rocks; and in 
the second place the trap is very hard, so that drilling wells in it is 
relatively costly. 

Some water is probably held in pores in the sandstone and conglom- 
erate, but these rocks do not form an important source of supply. 
No water-bearing horizon is known to exist in them, and even if 
they contained zones of suitable texture it is probable that faults 
would interrupt their continuity so much as to spoil their usefulness. 

Only one drilled well was visited in Simsbury, but others have 
been put down. Many more could be made, for it is highly probable 
that drilling at any given point would yield satisfactory results 
within a reasonable distance. 

TiU. — ^Till forms a mantle over those parts of Simsbury more than 
300 to 340 feet above sea level, except on the flank of Talcott Moun- 
tain, where the till extends down to an elevation of about 200 feet. 
It is a heterogeneous mixture of glacial debris; pebbles and boulders 
are embedded in a matrix of sand, silt, clay, and rock flour. The 
till has many fine pores that absorb and slowly transmit water and 
yield moderate supplies to dug wells. If a weU in till is reasonably 
deep and if it is not on a steep slope, it is likely to be reliable in all 
seasons. Seven such wells were measured in Simsbury. Three 
were said never to fail and one was said to fail; the reliabihty of 
the other three was not ascertained. The depth to water ranged 
from 9.5 feet in wefl No. 13 (see PL III) to 23.3 feet m weU No. 14 
and averaged 14.1 feet. 

Stratified drift. — The surface material of the lower parts of Sims- 
bury is stratified drift — that is, the reworked and washed material 
of the tiU sorted out and laid down in beds and lenses of different 
coarseness. It has larger and more freely connecting pores than the 
tiU and in general yields more satisfactory supphes. Measurements 
were made of 45 weUs dug in stratified drift in Simsbury. The depth 
to water in them ranged from 1.6 feet in weU No. 38 (see PL III) to 
23.8 feet in well No. 59 and averaged 11.6 feet. The reliability of 
all but 10 of these weUs was ascertained; 26 were said never to fail 
and 9 to fail. 



196 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Simshury. 







Eleva- 






No. 


Topo- 


tion 


Depth 
of well 


Depth 


on PI. 


graphic 


above 


to 


III. 


position. 


sea 
level. 




water. 






Feet. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


4 


Plain... 


300 


27.3 


22.1 


11 


...do...- 


275 


21.0 


11.8 


13 


Slope. . . 


320 


11.8 


9.5 


14 


...do.... 


320 


27.1 


23.3 


21 


...do.... 


350 


17.5 


9.8 


22 


...do.... 


410 


16.7 


9.7 


23 


Plain... 


330 


22.3 


12.2 



Method of Uft. 



Chaia pump . 

Windlass 

do 

Chain pump . 

do 

do 

do 



Remarks. 



FaUs. 
Do. 
Do. 



Rock bottom; unfailing. 





Dug wells 


ending in stratified drift in Simshury. 




No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Plain.... 

Slope — 

Plain.... 

...do 


Feet. 
265 
265 
280 
305 

305 

300 
305 
305 
280 
305 

295 
310 
315 
300 
300 
195 
280 
275 
275 
305 
250 
260 
250 

260 
240 
220 
285 
190 
180 
200 

310 
190 
140 
240 
150 
175 
180 
175 
165 
155 
305 
280 
320 
190 
150 


15.5 
16.5 
16.2 
14.1 

19 

14.2 

18.6 
8 

15.8 
24.3 

15.9 
14.4 
11 

12.2 
23.7 

18.4 
10.9 

'""i9.'i' 

21.5 
13 

11.8 
18.6 

11.8 
9.3 
11.4 
14.1 
7.9 
17.2 
12.8 

16.8 
14.8 
18.8 
12.7 
17.5 
18.5 
15.8 
17.3 
12.2 
16.8 
14.3 
13.7 
24.8 
17.6 
15 


13.7 

11.9 

12.7 

6.4 

13 

8.3 
12.6 

6 

13.7 
20.2 

12.9 
11.2 

9.7 

9.7 
12.3 
15.8 

7.7 
21 

12.2 
15 
11 

4.8 
15 

4.8 
7.6 
8.3 
9.7 
1.6 
11.3 
10.3 

13.4 
10.5 
15.9 

8.5 

9.7 
15.4 
12.7 
13.3 

7.4 
14.6 
11.5 

9.9 
23.8 
14.5 


Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

do 

Windlass rig and 

house pump. 
Deep- well pump 

House pump 

.do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


2 




3 






5 




Do. 


6 

7 


FredHolcomb... 


...do 

. .do 


Unfailing; for analy- 
sis see p. 198. 
Unfailing. 
Fails 


8 




...do 


9 




. .do 


Deei)-well pump 

do 


UnfaiUng. 
Do. 


10 




...do 


12 




...do 


Windlass and pulley 
rig. 

Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 


Do. 


15 




...do.... 


Do. 


17 




...do 


Do.o 


18 




...do 


Do. 


19 




...do 


(b) 




20 




...do 


Windlass rig 

do 


Do.c 


24 




Slope — 
Plain.... 
...do 




26 




Pitcher pump 

Deep- well pump 

Cham pump 


Fails. 


27 






28 




...do 


Do. 


29 




...do 


do' r 


Unfailing. 
Fails. 


30 




...do 


do 


31 




.. do.-.. 


do 


Unfailing. 

Unfailing; for assay 
see p. 198. 
Do. 


32 


M. H. Tuller 


. do.-.. 


do 


33 




.do 


.... do 


34 




.. do.... 


.....do 


Do. 


36 




.. do...- 


Windlass rig 

House pump 

Chain pump 

do 




37 




Slope — 
Plain.... 
...do 




38 






39 




Unfailing. 
Tiled; unfailing. 

Fails. 


40 




Slope... 
...do 


Pitcher pump and 
house pump. 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Windlass rig 

Chain pump 

(b) 


41 




43 


do 


Unfailing. 


44 
45 


Town farm 


Plain.... 
Slope..-. 
Plain.... 

Slope 

...do 


Do. 

Fails. 


47 






50 




Unfailing. 


51 






Fails. 


52 
53 


R. F. Eno 


Plain.... 
...do 


Windlass rig 

Chain pump 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


55 




...do 


do^ r 


Fails. 


56 




Slope — 
Plain.... 
. do.... 


do 


Unfailing. 


58 




(b) •. 




59 




Ui 


Do. 


60 




...do.... 


Chain piunp 


Fails. 


61 




...do 



















a Water level varies 4 or 5 feet. 

b No rig. 

c Dug 4 feet into rock. Part of the water comes from a crack in the rock and part from the stratifi<jd drift, 



SIMSBURY. 

Driven icells in Simshury. 



197 



No. 

on 
PI. 
III. 


0^vner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Eomarks. 


16 


T. T. Case 


Plain... 
...do 


Feet. 
195 
170 
295 


Feet. 
40 
15 
21 


Feet. 

""is" 

lOi 


Ir.ches. 
3 




49 




(a). 


57 




...do 


Pitcher pump; 14-foot pit; 
unfailing. 









a Driven 10 feet below a 5-foot pit. After 5 years' use the screen had to be cleaned of incrusted material. 

Drilled well in Simshury. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 
of well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Water- 
bearing 
formation. 


Remarks. 


25 


T.J. Clark, jr... 


Plain... 


Feet. 
260 


Feet. 
113 


Feet. 
26 


Inches. 
6 


Sandstone 


For analysis see p. 198. 



Springs in Simshury. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo^aphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
pera- 
ture. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


35 
42 


Mfs.A. E.Woods 

A. E. & F. C.Hoskins. 


Valley 

Plain 


Feet. 
180 
260 

180 
180 
180 


" F. 
55' 

50 

58 
50 


Gallons. 
10 


Unfailing; for assay see p. 198. 
Pumped by windmill; unfail- 
ing; for assay see p. 198. 
Piped to house. 
Operates a ram. 
One of a group of springs. 


46 


FootofhiU 

Swale 


48 




54 




Foot of slope.. 







QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and three assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Sunsbury are given below. Two of the waters, 
Nos. 35 and 42, are moderately mineralized but very soft waters of 
the sodiima-carbonate type and might cause trouble by foaming in 
boilers; they are therefore classed as bad and fair, respectively, for 
boiler use. No. 35 will deposit httle scale and No. 42 only a mod- 
erate amount. The other waters are low in mineral content and 
are of the calcium-carbonate type; although No. 25 is classified as 
soft, it contains more hardening ingredients than the others. All 
the waters are suitable for domestic use. 



198 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONK. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Simsbury. 

[Parts per million; collected Dec. 6, 1915; S. C. Diasmore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns refer to 
corresponding well numbers on PI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 196-197.] 



Silica (SiO?) 

Iron(re) 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potasisium (Na+K)d. 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (CI) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness ag CaCOa 

Scale-forming constituents d 

Foaming constituents d 



Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion g. 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use. . 



Analyses. a 



10 
Trace. 
10 
1.9 
3.8 
.0 
34 
3.3 
4.0 
5.0 
58 
d33 
43 
10 

Ca-COa 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 



25 c 



18 

.50 
25 
.9 
ell 
.0 
87 
4.9 
1.8 
.70 
101 
d66 
93 
30 

Ca-CO, 

N 

Good. 

Good. 



Assays. & 



32 



Trace. 



2 


32 


12 



d62 
40 
55 
(/) 

Ca-COs 

(?) 

Good. 

Good. 



35 



Trace. 



99 



273 

^race. 

6 



d260 

35 

50 

270 

Na-COa 

N 

Bad. 

Good. 



42 



0.75 



67 



185 

20 



d220 

49 

65 

180 

Na-CO-, 

N 

Fair. 

Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61 . 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Analyzed by Alfred A. Chambers, U. S. Geol. Survey. 

d Computed. 

« Determined. 

/ Less than 10 parts per million. 

S Based on computed value; (?)=corrosion uncertain; N=noncorrosive. 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 



There are three water companies supplying customers in th^ town 
of Simsbury. 

The Simsbury Water Co. began as a small communal system in 
1874 but has never become extensive. The original subscribers each 
got a right to a f-inch service connection except the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co., which got a right to a IJ-inch 
connection. Water is deflected from Grimes Brook, a mile west of 
the village, and is carried in a short ditch to a basin, where it enters 
the main. The company owns but does not use a small reservoir on 
the same brook. Water is distributed under a low pressure through 
2 miles of mains to about 100 customers. Mr. Horace Belden, presi- 
dent, estimates the average daily consumption at 75,000 gallons, of 
which a large part is used by the railroad and the fuse factory. 

The Village Water Co., of Simsbury, was organized to provide fire 
protection and began operations in 1903. A stone dam 8 to 10 feet 
high on Stratton Brook south of West Simsbury forms a 4,000,000- 
gallon reservoir from which water is delivered by gravity through 
8 miles of mains to 51 fire hydrants and 254 service taps. The pres- 
sure ranges from 48 to 60 pounds to the square inch. The average 
daily consumption is estimated at 68,800 gallons. The company 
owns a second reservoir lower down on Stratton Brook, but it is not 
used as it does not give sufficient head. 



SOUTHINGTON. 



199 



The Westover Plain Water Co. is a small concern supplying 13 
customers in West Simsbuiy from an inclosed spring west of the vil- 
lage. The water is delivered by gravity through about 1 mile of 
main pipe. 

SOTJTHINGTON. 



AREA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Southington is in the southwest corner of Hartford County. It 
includes two large settlements, Southington and Plantsville, and two 
smaller ones, Milldale and Marion. At each of these there are stores 
and post offices. The Northampton division (Canal Road) of the 
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad has stations at South- 
ington, Plantsville, and Milldale. Electric trolley lines connect the 
town with Waterbury, New Haven, Meriden, Plainville, New Britain, 
and Hartford. 

The area of Southington is about 40 square miles, of which one- 
fourth is woodland. Macadam and bituminous-macadam State 
trunk-line roads connect Southington with Plainville, Meriden, 
Cheshire, Waterbury, and more distant points. The town roads are 
in general good, but some that cross the sand plains are poor. There 
are about 100 miles of town roads and 11 miles of State roads. 

In 1779 this territory was taken from Farmington and incorporated 
under its present name. Since then it has suffered no change of 
territory, except the separation of part of Wolcott in 1796. In 
1889 the borough of Southington, comprising Southington and Plants- 
ville, was incorporated. The population of the town in 1920 was 
8,440, of which the borough contained 5,085. 

Population of Southington, 1782 to 1910. 0' 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1782 


1,882 
2,110 
1,804 
1,807 
1,875 


1830 


1,844 
1,887 
2,135 
3,315 
4,314 


1880 


5,411 


1790 


1840 


1890 .. .. . 


5,501 


1800 


1850 


1900 


5,890 
6,516 


1810 


1860 


1910 


1820 


1870 











a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 655. 

Until 1840 the population remained about stationary. Since then 
there has been a fairly uniform growth, which will probably continue, 
as the town is advantageously situated for manufacturing. 

The principal industries of Southington are agriculture, compris- 
ing chiefly truck farming and dairying, and the manufacture of hard- 
ware, particularly edge tools, bolts, screws, and builder's hardware. 
Some brick are made in the Marion district. 



200 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

SURFACE FEATURES. 

Most of Soiithington is a relatively flat plain 180 to 220 feet above 
sea level, below whieh the streams have cut valleys. On the east side 
of the plain is a steep ridge with a westward-facing cliff formed by the 
trap sheet of the Meriden West Peak range. The highest point in the 
town is on this ridge at the south boundary and is 905 feet above sea 
level. The lowest point in the town is where Quinnipiac River crosses 
into Meriden, about 100 feet above sea level. The peaks of the West 
Peak range are for the most part 500 to 754 feet in elevation and are 
separated by gaps 200 to 400 feet deep. Below West Peak, to the south 
and west, is a shelf or terrace that forms a striking topograpliic feature 
visible for many miles to the north and northwest. The eminence of 
West Peak is due to the fact that the tliick ''Main" sheet of trap re- 
sists erosion better than the associated sandstones and shales. The 
thinner ''Anterior'' sheet, which iniderlies the "Main" sheet and is 
separated from it by several hundred feet of sandstone and shale, is 




EXPLANATION 






Tolus Stratified drift Till Sandstone Trap rock 

Figure 29.— Section through Meriden West Peak. 

less able to witlistand erosion, so that it has less effect on the topog- 
raphy and makes a bench below the principal cliff'. This relation 
of the topography to the "Main" and "Anterior" sheets is shown in 
figm-e 29, which is a section along the line G-G' , Plate II. 

At the western edge of the Southington plain is the steep and high 
front of the western highland plateau, locally called Wolcott Moun- 
tain, Southington Mountain, or Compounce Mountain. For most of 
its extent the scarp, which is 500 to 700 feet above sea level, is formed 
by the very resistant Hoosac schist, but the lower slopes of the south- 
ern portion are of the Prospect porph}Titic granite gneiss. 

Near the middle of the valley in the northern part of Southington 
two smaller liills rise above the sand plain to heights of 300 and 320 
feet above sea level. They have gentle slopes and rather broad, flat 
crests, and are elongated on the north and south axes. They have 
cores of shale and sandstone covered by a mantle of till 10 to 30 feet 
thick. Prior to the glacial epoch their general shape was no doubt 
the same as at present, but the detail was rougher. The ice sheet 
passing over them polished down some of the projections and filled in 
the depressions with till, thus forming "rock drumlins." Figure 30 
shows these relations and is a section along theUne F-F% Plate II. 



SOUTHTNGTON. 



201 



The Southington plain is a glacial out wash plain composed of strati- 
fied drift — the sand and gravel washed out from the retreating glacier 
by streams of melt water. East of Southington and Plantsville there 
are a number of kettle holes — depressions 15 to 35 feet deep and 100 
to 500 feet across in the level surface of the plain. As the ice receded 
fragments broke off, and some of the larger ones stranded and became 
more or less completely buried in the sands and gravels washed in 
around them. Upon melting they left these depressions. Most of the 
kettle holes of Southington are somewhat wet and swampy, and in 
some there are small ponds during much of the year. 

Compounce Pond, in the northwest corner of the town, is of unusual 
origin. Its west bank is formed by the slope of Compounce Mountain, 
the front of the western highland, and its east bank is an esker about 
a mile long. The north end of the esker, which is about a quarter of a 



Feet 




Vertical scale twice the horizontal 
EXPLANATION 



Stratified drift 



Sandstone 



a 



Schist 



Figure 30.— Section across Southington. 

mile north of the head of the lake, lies close against the foot of Com- 
pounce Mountain and is 20 to 30 feet high and narrow crested. Farther 
south it is broader and about 35 feet higher and swings away from the 
mountain a quarter of a mile. Opposite the south end of the pond 
the coarse washed and sorted material composing the esker is ex- 
posed in a trolley cut. • A few hundred feet south of the south end of 
the pond the esker swings back westward toward the foot of the moun- 
tain, its width increases, and its height decreases. Immediately after 
the recession of the ice from the basin the water body must have been 
somewhat larger, but its outlet soon cut its channel down through the 
esker to about its present level. At the north end of the lake a delta 
plain several hundred feet long fills the space between the esker and 
the foot of the mountain. This delta is composed of the materials 
that have been washed in from the north and northwest. 

Southington is entirely in the drainage basin of Quinnipiac River, 
which flows from north to south through the town. Patton and 
Misery brooks, which, in April, 1915, were estimated to flow 5 and 6 
second-feet, respectively, enter the Quinnipiac from the east; Eight- 
mile and Tenmile rivers are larger tributaries coming from the west. 
Eightmile River l-eceives the outlet stream of Compounce Pond. 



202 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Underlying the surface materials in Southington there are four 
varieties of bedrock, red sandstone and shale of Triassic age, trap rock, 
also Triassic, the Hoosac schist, and the Prospect porphyritic granite 
gneiss. ^^ 

Schist and gneiss. — The area underlain by the granite gneiss and 
Hoosac schist includes the steep slope along the west edge of the 
town. On such a slope the bedrocks are very poorly situated for 
carrjdng water. They form a relatively impervious layer and force 
the water out of the drift in numerous springs and seeps. 

Tra'p rock. — Trap rock underlies the surface materials in a narrow 
belt along the east boundary of Southington. The edge of the 
*'Main" trap sheet barely crosses the line; the ''Anterior" sheet 
extends a little farther. At the south edge of the town, near Milldale, 
the basal intrusive trap crops out in a few places. The joints and 
fissures of the trap rock carry small quantities of water, but nowhere 
in the town are they used as a source of supply. On the bench south 
of West Peak several wells have been drilled through the trap of the 
''Anterior" sheet but draw water from the underlying sedimentary 
rocks. 

Sandstone and shale. — The Triassic sandstones and shales underlie 
most of Southington and form the source of supply of all the rock 
wells of the town. The water is probably drawn solely from fissures 
and not at all from pores in the rock. Mr. Upson's dug well, on West 
Street (No. 97, PL III), is of this type. A description of this well, 
together with a study of its yield of water, is given on page 47. 
Thirteen drilled wells ending in sandstone in Southington range in 
depth from 45 to 198 feet and average 94 feet. Reports obtained 
for six of these show a range in yield from 1 J to 20 gallons a minute 
and an average of 12 gallons a minute. 

Till. — Till forms the mantle rock in the higher portions of South- 
ington. In the southern part of the town the boundary between the 
till and the stratified drift is about 160 feet above sea level; in the 
northern part it is higher, and at the Plainville line it is about 220 feet. 
The comparatively uniform altitude of this boundary is not for- 
tuitous but was determined by the height and gradient of the streams 
of melt water that deposited the stratified drift. The grade of the 
boundary is such that it drops 60 feet in crossing the town and is 
about the same as the grade of the Quinnipiac, which now drops 50 
feet in the same distance. 

Two till-covered rock drumlins occupy the divide between Eight- 
mile and Quinnipiac rivers; a third lies between Quinnipiac River 
and Patton Brook, in the northeast corner of the town; and a 

68 Gregory, H. E., and Robinson, H. H., Preliminary geological map of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. 
and Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 7, 1907. 



SOUTHINGTOH. 



203 



fourth very low one lies centrally between Plantsville, Milldale, and 
Marion. Other till-covered areas are the slopes of the east and west 
sides of the valley. Within these areas dug wells of reasonable 
depth yield moderately abundant supplies of water and are reliable 
in dry seasons except where they reach rock or are on very steep slopes. 
Twenty-five such wells were measured in Southington. The depth 
to water in them ranged from 4 feet in well No. 28 (see PL III) to 
24 feet in well No. 75 and averaged 14.2 feet. Of these wells 11 
were said never to fail and 8 were said to fail ; the reliability of the 
other 6 wells was not ascertained. 

Stratified drift. — The stratified drift is well sorted and washed, 
so that it is porous and capable of holding and transmitting much 
water. Wells on the plain which extend a short distance below the 
water level are sure of an abundant and permanent supply. Mr. 
Perry's well (No. 11, PI. Ill) obtained water in gravel at a depth of 
45 feet, and Mr. Kjumm's well (No. 70) at a depth of 40 feet. Several 
dug weUs between Southington and Plantsville pass through 45 feet 
of stratified drift, but the maximum depth may be much greater. 
(See Plainville report, p. 170.) Measurements were made of 47 wells 
dug in stratified drift in Southington. The depth to water in them 
ranged from 4 feet in wells Nos. 25 and 80 to 45 feet in wells Nos. 
41 and 42 and averaged 16.1 feet. Of these wells 27 were said to be 
nonfaihng and 5 were said to fail; the reliability of the remaining 15 
wells was not ascertained. 



RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Southington. 



No. 
on 
PI. 

m. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


3 




Hillside, 
.do ... 


Feet. 
330 
385 
380 
270 
285 
410 
440 
285 
295 
215 
220 
210 
305 
255 
235 
202 
160 
205 
280 
220 

205 
330 
390 

305 
140 


Feet. 

""29." 5" 
23.8 
24.7 
31.8 
22.4 
35.5 
17.5 
28.5 
32.7 
20.2 
11.6 
12.2 
16.4 
18.5 
19.7 
11. 

'22.'3" 
23.0 

15.4 
31.0 
29.0 

13.1 
21.9 


Feet. 

21.9 

15.9 

11.8 

20.6 

19.8 

16.7 

23.3 

• 10.4 

21.0 

18.2 

17.1 

5.5 

4.0 

9.5 

12.4 

4.8 

4.7 

24.0 

16.0 

13.0 

12.9 
13.5 
16.0 

7.1 
17.9 




A new well. 


4 




Windlass 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


5 




...do... 


Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 


6 




...do 


Do. 


7 




...do 


Fails. 


8 




...do 


Chain pump 


Unfailing. 


9 




..do 


Rock bottom. 


13 




...do 


Pump in house 


Fails. 


14 




Hilltop.. 
...do 


8 feet to rock. 


19 




Two-bucket rig 


Unfailing. 


21 




HiUside. 
Slope. . . 
Hilltop.. 
Slope. . . 
...do. . .. 


27 




Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

. ..do 




28 




Abandoned; fails. 


51 


L. J. Whitehead. 


Fails; 2 feet into rock. 


53 


Windlass 


Fails; 6 feetintorock. 


60 




HiUtop.. 
Slope. . . 
...do 


Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

Pitcher pump 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


62 




75 




Reaches rock; fails. 


76 




...do 


Abandoned. 


77 




..do 




Dug to rock; unfail- 
ing. 

Unfailing. 
Do. 

Unfailing; for assay 
see p. 206. 

Reaches rock; falls. 


78 




Plain... 
Slope. . . 
...do 


Pump in house 

Deep-well pump 

Gravity flow 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


86 
87 


Edw.Wassong... 
do 


90 




Ridge... 
Plain. . . 


92 




Fails. 











204 GROUND WATEH IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANbY AREA, CONl?. 

Dug ivells ending in stratified drift in Southingion. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


OwTier. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


2 




Plain... 
...do 


Feet. 
196 

200 
150 
222 
245 
220 
130 
175 
193 
187 
200 
222 
222 
165 
185 
138 
160 
202 
202 

220 

195 

200 
185 

180 
185 
165 

180 
200 
180 
185 
142 
145 
135 
160 
150 

142 
140 
186 

190 
155 
145 
160 

130 
120 

118 
115 

225 


Feet. 
12.2 

19.4 
18.5 
40.3 
33.5 
17.5 
17.3 
22.0 
19.8 
15.2 
22.1 
26.7 
26.2 
15.4 
19.5 
16.4 
18.6 
47.0 
46.1 

53.7 

31.1 

11.0 
22.7 

13.8 
16.3 
26.4 

19.9 
19.0 
13.5 
23.0 
12.5 
15.6 
12.9 

"'i6.'6' 

14.2 
16.7 
17.0 

13.5 
15.7 

7.0 
20.1 

18.4 
18.2 

13.7 
14.3 

22.3 


Feet. 
10.2 

11.0 
15.3 
37.3 
27.8 
13.5 
15.7 
20.4 
17.3 
12.3 
19.2 
23.1 
23.6 
10.2 
16.4 
13.8 
13.6 
45.0 
45.0 

44.4 

23.0 

7.8 
16.9 

10.9 

9.8 

24.0 

10.9 
8.9 
5.7 

21.6 
8.0 

12.1 
7.1 

18.0 

12.0 

8.0 

9.7 

14.0 

6.8 
13.6 

4.0 
11.4 

12.0 
11.3 

8.0 
8.3 

16.8 


Sweep rig and pump 
in house. 

Windlass rig 

Pump in house 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Unfailing. 


12 




Fails. 


23 




...do 


Unfailing. 


24 




Slope. . . 
Hilltop. 
Ridge . - . 
Plain-.. 
Slope- . . 
...do 


Fails. 


25 






26 






Unfailing. 


29 




Chain pump 


30 






31 








32 




...do 






33 




...do 






34 




Plain. . . 
...do 






35 




Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 




37 




...do 


Do. 


38 




...do 


Do. 


39 




...do 


Pitcher pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Abandoned. 


40 




Slope. . . 

Plain... 

.-.do.... 

...do.... 


Unfailing. 
Tiled. 


41 


Henry Ludecke.. 
Hartson 


42 
43 


do 

do 


Tiled; imfailing; 

abandoned. 
Two tiles at bottom; 


44 




...do 


Deep-well pump 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig and 
pump in house. 

Pump in house 

Pitcher pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


steady ;abandoned. 
Unfailing; tiled at 


45 




Slope 

Plain. . . 

--.do.... 


bottom. 
Unfailing. 


46 




Do. 


47 






49 
50 

54 


Chas. Stewart . . - 
E. P. Gridley..-. 


Slope 

Ridge 

crest. 

Slope. . . 

.-.do. . .. 


Fails. 
Do. 

Unfailing. 


65 




Chain pump 

do 


56 




Plain. . . 
...do 


Do. 


67 




Two-bucket rig 

Pump in house 


Do. 


63 




...do 


Do. 


64 




...do 


Tiled; unfaiUng. 


65 




...do 


Two-bucket rig 

do 


Do. 


66 




...do 


Do. 


67 




...do 


Two-bucket rig and 
house pump. 

Two-buckBt rig 

Chain pump 

Pitcher pump 

Two-bucket rig 

do 


Do. 


68 




...do 


Do. 


69 




...do 


Abandoned. 


71 
72 


H. A. .A.ndrews. - 


Slope. . . 
...do... 


Tiled; unfaiUng; for 

assay see p. 206. 
UnfaiUng. 
Do. 


73 




Plain... 

...do.... 

Slope 

Plain. . . 
Slope 

Plain... 
Slope. . . 

Hilltop.. 


80 


iienry Woifi.... 
John Paul 

Sam'l B.Hill..-. 






83 
93 


Two-bucket rig 

do 


UnfaiUng; for assay 

see p. 206. 
Tiled; unfailing.a 


94 


Two-bucket rig and 
pump in house. 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig and 
two pumps in 
house. 

Two-bucket rig and 
air - pressure sys- 
tem. 


Unfailing. 


95 




96 




Do. 


97 


Fred Upson 


•UnfaiUng; 9 feet in 
rock; for pumping 
test and analysis 
see pp. 47, 206. 



o Formerly only 16 feet deep, then deepened to 22 feet through quicksand and tiled. The sand has 
filled in about 3^ feet. 

Driven wells in Southingion. 



No. 

on PI. 

III. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Elevation 

above sea 

level. 


DeDth of 
well. 


Remarks, 


1 
91 


Plain.... 
..-do 


Feet. 
225 
145 


Feet. 
18 
28 


Oood, continuous supply. 



SOUTHINGTON. 
Drilled wells in Southinqton. 



205 



No. 

onn. 

III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Diam- 
eter. 


Yield per 
minute. 


Water-bearing 
formation. 


10 


New Britain 
Water Com- 
mission. 

L. Perry 

School board . . . 

Baei 


Flat hill. 

Swale . . . 

Hilltop.. 

Slope.... 

...do 


Feet. 
400 

215 
305 
270 
260 
250 
250 
150 
260 
160 

145 
245 
255 
400 
400 


Feet. 
91 

45 
140 
97 
77 
45 
19S 
91 
90 
40 

75 
63 

108 
80 
60 


Feet. 

84 

ie' 

8 
8 or 10 
12 
16 
16 
16 
40 (?) 

29 
15 


Feet. 


Indies. 


Gallons. 


Sandstone. 


11 
15 
16 


19 

20 
15 or 16 

12 

10 or 12 

616 

19 


6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 


20 

20 

Uor2 

Good. 

Fair. 

7 


Sandstone. 
Do. 


17 




Do. 


18 
20 


Mike Ba.shko\v . 


...do 

...do 


Do. 
Do, 


22 


Joe Nf assolots . . . 

E. R. Dunn 

John Krumm... 

Henry WoUT.... 

Geo. Knipfer 

Elmer Talmadge 

D'Agostino 

A. W. Slater.... 


...do 

3'lain.... 
...do 

...do 

Slope.... 
...do 

Hillside - 
...do 


Do. 


36 




(<=) 


Do. 


70 


25 

"'(e)'" 
25 


6 
6 


For assay see 


81 
84 


(d) 


p. 206. 

Sandstone. 

Do. 


85 






Do. 


88 
89 


8 
6 


20 


Shale. 
Sandstone; for 








assay see p. 
206. 



a Water enters from a gravel bed at the bottom of the well. The following is the section: 

Feet. 

Sand and gravel 27 

Quicksand 5 

Hardpan 4 

Coarse sand\ o 

White sand/ " 

Gravel with water t 1 

b Sometimes overflows in spring thaws. 

e A fissure at depth of 50 feet yields 6 gallons a minute; a second fissure at 90 feet increases the yield to 
24 gallons a minute. 
d Use a 2-horsepower gasoline engine. 
e Air-pressure tank. 
/ Through about 6 feet of till, 10 feet of trap, and 64 feet of sandstone. 

Springs in Southington. 



No. 
on PI. 

in. 


Owner. 


Topographic 
position. 


Elevation 

above sea 

level. 


Temper- 
ature. 


Yield per 
minute. 


Remarks. 


48 


Charles Stewart 


Foot of slope.. 
Slope 


Feet. 
200 
485 
160 

170 
180 
145 
200 
140 


° F. 


Gallons. 
10-15 
2 
Good. 

10 

Good. 

Very big. 

1 


TTnfailing. 

Supplies horse trough. 

Unfailing; lor analysis sec 

p. 206. 
Unfailing; "Wonx Spring." 
Unfailing. 
At roadside. 


52 


46 
45 


68 
59 


J. G . Raymond 

Jadob Miller 


Foot of terrace. 
do 


61 




Slope 


46 


74 


i 


do 


79 




Swale 






82 




Slope 


47 















QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of two analyses and five assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Southington are given in the subjoined table. 
With' the exception of Nos. 58 and 71 the waters are of the calcium- 
carbonate type. No. 58 is calcium-nitrate in chemical character, and 
No. 71 is a sodium-carbonate water. All the waters are low in min- 
eral content except No. 97, which is classed as moderate; none of 
them are hard. No. 97 contains the largest amount of hardening 



206 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

constituents. Although the waters are classed as good for domestic 
use, the high nitrate in Nos. 58 and 97 indicates possible pollution. 
On account of their content of scale-forming constituents, Nos. 
97 and 87 are classified as fair for boiler use; the other waters are 
considered good. Corrosion will not occur when Nos. 71, 83, and 89 
are employed for steaming purposes, but the probability of corrosion 
is doubtful in the other waters. 

Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Southington. 

[Parts per million; S. C. Dinsmore, analyst. Numbers at heads of columns refer to corresponding numbers 
on PI. ni; see also records corresponding in number, pp. 203-2C5.] 



Analyses.o 



58 



97 c 



Assay J 



70 



71 



83 



87 



89 



SilicaCSiOa) 

Iron (Pe) 

Calcitmi (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassi um 

(Na-FK)d 

Carbonate ladicle'CCOs) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (01) 

Nitrate radicle (NO3). . 

Total dissoh ed solids 

Total hardness as CaCOs ... 

Scale-forming constituents «?. . . 
Foaming constituents d 

Chemical character , . 

Probability of corrosion / 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use 

Date of collection (1915) 



9.5 
.05 
17 
3.7 

6.7 
.0 

20 
5.7 
8.0 

48 

no 

d5S 
66 
18 

Ca-N03 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 

Nov. 11 



15 

.65 
36 
1.4 

el8 

.0 
105 

20 
7.4 

12 
162 
d96 
120 

49 

Ca-C03 

(?) 
Fair. 
Good. 
Dec. 10 



Trace. 



Trace. 



Trace. 



0.20 



3 


56 
5 

11 



26 


78 

5 

27 



18 



114 

5 



4 

105 
5 
4 



60 
75 
10 

Ca-COs 
(?) 

Good. 
Good. 

NOA'. 10 



dl30 
56 

70 
70 

Na-C03 
N 

Good. 

Good. 
No\. 10 



dl30 
73 
90 

50 

Ca-COg 

N 

Good. 

Good. 

Nov. 11 



di20 

90 

100 

10 

Ca-C03 

(?) 

Fair. 

Good. 

Nov. 11 



0.20 



25 



144 

3 

4 



dl50 
77 
90 
70 

Ca-COa 
N 

Good. 

Good. 
Nov. 11 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Analyzed by Alfred A. Chambers, U. S. Geol. Survey. 

d Computed. 

e Determined. 

/Based on computed value; (?)= corrosion uncertain; N=noncorrosive. 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

Southington, Plantsville, and Marion are supplied with water by 
the works of the Southington Waterworks Commission. In 1882 
the Southington Water Co., a private concern, was incorporated, 
one-fourth of its capital stock being subscribed by the town of South- 
ington. Reservoirs and pipe lines were built, and in 1884 operations 
were begim. In 1911 the town bought out the company for 
$234,292.25. There are four reservoirs on Falls Brook in the south- 
east corner of Wolcott, three of which are impounding reservoirs 
and the fourth a distributing reservoir, with a capacity of 2,373,000 
gallons. The water is distributed by gravity under a pressure of 
80 to 90 pounds to the square inch through 31 miles of mains to 
1,102 service taps and 152 fire hydrants. 

In the northeast corner of the town is Crescent Pond, a spring-fed 
reservoir of the Plainville Water Co. (See Plainville report, p. 176.) 



WOLCOTT. 207 

A mile southeast of it is the Shuttle Meadow reservoir of the New 
Britain Water Conunission. (See New Britain report, p. 157.) 

Most of the possible reservoir sites and collecting basins near 
Southington have been taken up and developed. If Southington 
grows much larger it may be necessary to develop the ground waters 
of the town. At several places batteries of wells would yield al)un- 
dant supplies. Lines of wells across the valley of Eightmile River 
northwest of Southington village, or across the flat valley of Patton 
Brook in the northeast corner of the town, would probably give satis- 
factory results. It is possible that pollution from the Bristol sewage- 
disposal plant might make water from the valley of Eightmile River 
unsuitable, and careful sanitary studies should be made before 
developing this supply. 

WOLCOTT. 

AEEA, POPULATION, AND INDUSTRIES. 

Wolcott is a small highland town near the middle of the north 
tier of towns of New Haven County, south of Bristol and northeast 
of Waterbury. The principal settlement is the '' Center," but there 
is also a small settlement locally known as Woodtick, a mile and a 
half south of the center, and a summer colony at the Waterbury 
reservoir, in the southeast corner of the town. There is no post 
office, but the town is served by rural delivery. Railroad connection 
is available only at points in towns near by. The line of the Water- 
bury & Milldale Tramway Co. follows tHe south boundary. 

Wolcott has an area of 21 square miles, of which two- thirds is 
woodland. There are about 48 miles of roads, which are in general 
well kept and are good, though hilly in sections. The State trunk- 
line highway connecting Waterbury and Meriden runs along the 
south boundary. 

The territory of Wolcott was taken from Waterbury and South- 
ington and incorporated as a separate town in 1796. From 1790 to 
1840 the Center was a very busy place and was known as Farming- 
bury. Its prosperity depended on the abundant agricultural pro- 
ducts and on an extensive freighting business between the growing 
manufacturing towns of the Naugatuck Valley and the wagon freight 
routes from Milldale to Hartford, Middletown, and New Haven. 
During the period that the Farmington canal was in use (1827 to 
1847) much of Waterbury's raw materials and manufactured pro- 
ducts passed through Wolcott. ^^ The development of railroads 
altered these conditions: many farm products could be brought from 
the West to economic advantage, and the long wagon haul through 
Wolcott was eliminated. There have been desultory attempts at 
manufacturing but the attraction of the larger towns near by has 

«9 Orcutt, Samuel, History of Wolcott. 



208 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

continually tended to reduce the population. From 1880 on, as 
sliowu in the table below, the population increased a little, presum- 
ably on account of the building of suburban residences along the 
south boundary of the town and in the valley of Mad River. The 
population in 1910 was 563, about three-fifths as great as in 1810. 

Population of Wolcott, ISOO-ldlO.a 



Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


Year. 


Population. 


1800 


948 
952 
943 
843 


1840.. 
1850.. 
I860.. 
1870. . 




633 
603 

574 
491 


1880.. 
1890.. 
1900.. 
1910. . 




493 


1810. . 









522 


1820.. 




581 


1830. . . 






563 









a Connecticut Register and Manual, 1915, p. 656. 



The principal industry of Wolcott is agriculture, but a good deal 
of cordwood and charcoal is produced for use in the brass foundries 
of the Naugatuck Valley. 



SURFACE FEATURES. 

Wolcott is an uplifted and well-dissected plateau. The total range 
of elevation is 585 feet. The lowest point is where Mad River crosses 
the southwest boundary, at 435 feet above sea level, and the highest 
point is Spindle Hill, with an elevation of 1,020 feet. In its former 
undissected condition the plateau had an average elevation of 900 
feet, but the north edge was slightly higher and the south edge 
shghtly lower. On it were a few residual hills 100 to 150 feet high. 
The surface of the plateau is believed to be part of one of a series of 
wave-cut terraces that extend across Connecticut but are marked 
only by the general accordance of altitude of flat hilltops. The 
terrace has been elevated and partly destroyed by subsequent weath- 
ering and erosion. The parts of the terrace more distant from major 
streams have suffered less than the parts nearer the streams. This 
probably accounts for the rather flat topography north of Spindle 
Hill and for the more rugged, valley-cut region in the southwest 
corner of the town. 

A mile northwest of the center, at a sawmill on Mad River, there 
are several excellent potholes in a gneiss ledge, which makes a natural 
dam on which the sawmill is built. The best is about 8 feet in di- 
ameter and is said to have been 40 feet deep, but it is now so filled 
with rubbish that it is only 15 feet deep. There are also several 
partial potholes in the ledge. The potholes were formed by eddies 
in the rapid current that caught up pebbles and swirled them around 
so that they bored out the cavities. 

Wolcott is drained for the most part by Mad River and its tribu- 
taries. Mad River rises just north of the Bristol town line, flows 



WOLCOTT. 209 

southward past the middle of Wolcott, and then turns southwest- 
ward through Woodtick into Waterbury and so reaches Naugatuck 
River. About a square mile in the northwest corner, is drained to 
Hancock Brook in Plymouth, and 5 square miles along the eastern 
boundary to Quinnipiac River in Southington. 

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS. 

Two principal varieties of bedrock have been recognized in Wolcott, 
the Hoosac schist and the Waterbury gneiss.'^ There is a small dike 
of trap rock in the southeast corner of the town. 

Schist and, gneiss. — The Hoosac schist, which imderlies all of Wol- 
cott except a belt a mile wide along the southwest boundary, is a 
typical light to dark gray mica schist, composed essentially of mica 
and quartz, with minor amounts of garnet, staurolite, and feldspar 
and the decomposition products of all these minerals. This rock was 
originally a series of clays and clayey sands which beKjame consoli- 
dated to form shale and shaly sandstone. These in turn were altered 
by crushing and mashing accompanied by heat during periods of 
mountain-building disturbances. The clay was in large part con- 
verted to white mica, and the mica flakes were so turned that they 
are roughly parallel and give the cleavage so characteristic of schists. 

The Waterbury gneiss, according to Gregory ,^^ is a variety of the 
Hoosac schist into which so many sheets and dikes of granitic and 
hornblendic material have been injected that its character is ma- 
terially altered. Such injections are widely distributed in the schist, 
but it is only locally that they are so abundant. 

The schist and gneiss carry and yield water in essentially the same 
way. They are very old and have many fissures and cracks. When 
water falls as rain a part soaks into the soil, and some of this finds 
its way into the intricate system of interconnecting channels in the 
bedrock. It is highly probable that a well drilled at any point in 
the schist or gneiss will intersect one or more water-bearing fissures 
within a reasonable distance and will obtain a supply of water suffi- 
cient for domestic or farm needs. Only one such well has been 
drilled in Wolcott, but drilling would undoubtedly prove worth while 
for many of the inhabitants whose present supplies are inadequate 
or unreliable. 

Trap rock. — ^The State road is crossed near the southeast corner 
of the town by a trap dike intruded into the Hoosac schist. It lies 
parallel to the general direction of the schistosity, bearing N. 15° E., 
is 20 feet thick, and forms a sharp little ridge 5 to 15 feet high and at 

'"Gregory, H. E., and RobiBson, H. H., Preliminary geological map of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. 
and Nat. Hist. Survey Bull. 7, 1907. 

" Rice, W. N., and Gregory, H. E., Manual of the geology of Connecticut: Connecticut Geol. and Nat. 
Hist. Survey Bull. 6, p. 100, 1906. 

187118°— 21— wsp 466 14 



210 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 

least 500 feet long. It is of so slight areal extent that it is negligible 
as a source of water supply. The trap is probably of Triassic age 
and related to the trap of the lowland. 

Till. — Over the bedrock there is a mantle of glacial till everywhere 
in Wolcott except for two areas of stratified drift and the many 
small areas of rock outcrop. The till is a heterogeneous mixture of 
glacial debris of a great variety of kinds and sizes. Fine rock flour 
and clay, silt, sand, pebbles, and boulders, plowed up and scraped 
along by the glacier, were plastered over the bedrock in a sheet that 
in places is as much as 40 feet thick, though for the most part only 
15 or 20 feet. Except on steep slopes from which the water may 
seep readily or where the till sheet is thin, wells dug in till will in 
general yield supplies of water sufiicient in volume and constancy 
for domestic and farm needs. Measurements were made of 80 such 
wells in Wolcott. The depth to water in them ranged from 3.6 
feet in well No. 16a (see PI. Ill) to 26.4 feet m well No. 75, and 
averaged 10.7 feet. Inquiries were made as to the reliability of 64 
of these weUs; 40 were said never to fail, but 24 fail in some seasons. 

Stratified drift. — Stratified drift forms a flood plain in the valley 
of Mad River, in the southwestern part of Wolcott, and an esker-like 
hill in the northwest corner. In both areas it consists of porous, 
moderately coarse sand and gravel and therefore absorbs and dis- 
charges water more readily than the till. The depth to water in the 
five wells in stratified drift that were measured in Wolcott averaged 
12.7 feet and ranged from 8.4 feet in well No. 73 to 18.9 feet in well 
No. 77. Wells Nos. 1 and la both fail because of their disadvan- 
tageous position on a steep slope. 

RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

Dug wells ending in till in Wolcott. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Hilltop- 
Slope. . . 

...do 


Feet. 
850 
655 

845 
920 
860 
855 
830 
835 

730 
685 
860 

795 


Feet. 
14.8 
24.4 

12.1 
17.5 
18.4 
19.6 
14.0 
11.4 

13.4 
20.7 
30.3 

14.7 


Feet. 

8.6 

20.0 

6.0 

11.9 

13.3 

11.1 

8.1 

3.9 

7.8 
14.4 
21.0 

8.5 




6 feet in rock; fails.** 


2 




Windlass rig and 

deep- well pump. 
Windlass rig 




3 




Fails. 


4 




...do 


do 


Unfailing. 
Fails. 


5 




...do 


do 


6 




...do 


do 


Rock bottom; fails. 


7 




...do 


Sweep rig 


Fails. 


7a 




..do ... 


Chain piunp and 

house pump. 

Pitcher pump 

Windlass rig 

Counterbalance rig 

and house pump . . 
House pump 


Unfailing. & 


8 




...do 


9 




...do 




10 




...do 


Fails. 


11 




...do.... 


Unfailing. 



o 150 feet west of well No. 1. 



^ 250 feet southwest of well No. 7. 



WOLCOTT. 

Dug wells ending in till in Wolcott — Continued. 



211 



Owner. 



Mrs. Harriet Nor- 
ton. 
H. W.Coc 



August Burtin. 



Bronson. 
do... 



Topo- 
graphic 
position. 



Slope. . 
..do... 
Hilltop. 
Slope. . 
Swell.. 
Slope. . 
..do... 
..do... 



...do... 

...do... 

...do... 

...do... 

Plain. . 

...do... 
...do... 

Slope. . 
...do... 

HiUtop. 

Slope. . 



..do.... 
Hilltop.. 
Slope. . . 
..do.... 
..do.... 
..do.... 
Hilltop.. 

..do 

..do.... 
...do.... 
Valley.. 
Slope. . . 
Plateau. 
...do.... 
...do.... 
..do.... 
...do.... 
Slope. . . 

...do 

...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do.... 
...do..., 
...do..., 
Plateau. 
...do... 



...do.... 
Slate. . . 
Plateau 
Slate. . . 
...do... 



.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 
.do. 



Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 



Feet. 
760 
760 
755 
825 
685 
690 
620 
600 

550 

600 
575 
535 
545 

535 
515 
865 
900 
950 
910 

850 
865 
825 
800 
770 
790 
840 
845 
850 
850 
620 
555 
900 
905 
900 
925 
935 
770 
780 
780 
760 
720 
700 
660 
705 
900 
...885 



Depth 

of 
well. 



.885 
875 
885 
840 
840 

810 
820 
780 
510 
520 
505 
480 



Feet. 
16.0 
14.7 
20.1 
18.2 
6.9 
8.0 
13.9 
18.6 

14.1 

24.1 
21.5 
19. 
26.0 

13.4 
12.3 
14.8 
14.1 
26.7 
14.0 

13.1 
18.0 
20.0 
21.3 
10.8 
14.8 
14.0 
19.0 
11.6 
18.4 
33.1 
12.5 
17.7 
11.5 
11.6 
18.7 
9.9 
11.3 
13.2 
12.0 
17.4 
15.5 
14.9 
15. 
17.5 
16.6 
16.2 

9.4 
18.4 
12.3 
13.1 
12.8 

17.8 
17.3 
18.1 
20.3 
12.6 
22.1 
15.0 



Depth 

to 
water. 



Feet. 

10.3 
8.7 

15.1 
9.4 
3.7 
3.6 

10.2 

11.9 

11.3 

14.6 
17.5 
16, 
19.4 

6.8 

6.4 
13.0 

8.2 
13.7 

9.8 

5.2 
12.9 
15.5 
12.2 

7.2 
12.8 

9.2 
10.3 

6.5 
12.6 
13.1 

9.4 
10.5 

5.9 

6.5 
10.7 

7.2 

7.6 

9.0 

8.7 
11.6 

7.8 
11.9 

9. 

8.1 
10.1 
11.0 

4.8 
14.0 
5.6 
9.1 
7.0 

10.0 
10.3 
13.9 
8.2 
8.4 
21.0 
10.5 



Method of Uft. 



Chain pump . 

....do 

^Vindlass rig . 

do 

House pump . 



Two-bucket rig 

Pitcher pump and 

house pump. 
Windlass rig 



Two house pumps. . 



Windlass rig 

Chain pump and 
gasoline engine. 

Chain.pump 

do 



pul- 



Windlass rig . . 

do 

Windlass and 
ley rig. 

Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig. . . 
Counterbalance rig 

Windlass rig .' 

House pump 

Windlass rig 



Two-bucket rig. 
Windlass rig . . . 
Chain pump. . . 
Windlass rig... 

do 

do 

do 

do 

W 

Windlass rig... 
House pump... 
Windlass rig... 

do 

do 



Windlass rig c 
Chain pump . . 

W 

Chain pump . . 
do 



do 

Pitcher pump. 



Hoasepump. 
(d) 



Windlass rig 

Two-bucket rig 

do 

Chain pump 

do 

(d) , 

Windlass rig and 
house pump. 



Remarks. 



Fail>. 

Unfailing. 

Fails. 

ITnfailing. 

Fails. 

Do.« 

Do. 
Unfailing. 

Fails; for assay see 

p. 213. 
Unfailing. & 
17 feet in rock. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Fails. 



Unfailing. 
Do. 
Do. 



Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

5 feet in rock; fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Fails. 

Do. 
Unfailing, c 
Fails. 
Unfailing. 

Do. 

6 feet in rock; un- 
failing. 

Unfailing./ 

Do. 
Fails. 

Fails; rock bottom. 
Rock bottom; un- 
failing.? 



Unfailing. 
Do. 



a 100 feet north of well No. 16. 

b This well was dag through blue clay and hardpan, which was so tough that it had to be picked, 
the bottom a sandy layer was struck, and this yields an abundance of water, 
c A buggy wheel used instead of a crank on the windlass, 
d No rig. 

e 300 feet southeast of well No. 53. 
/ 150 feet northeast of well No. 58. 
g 200 feet southwest of well No. 61. 



At 



212 GROUND WATER IN SOUTHINGTON-GRANBY AREA, CONN. 
Dug wells ending in till in Wolcott — Continued. 



No. 
on 
ri. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


70 




Slate.... 
..do. .. 


Feet. 
480 

490 

540 
485 
475 
445 
560 
550 
.580 
660 
600 
645 
700 


Feet. 
16.5 

20.6 

27.4 

30.1 

12.1 

13. 

31.0 

13.7 

16.4 

17.1 

15.6 

19.4 

16.8 


Feet. 
12.0 

15.0 

18.0 

26.4 

8.0 


Deep-well pump and 

house pump. 
Sweep rig and hou se 

pump. 
Sweep rig 




71 




Unfailing. 
Fails. 


74 




Slope. . . 
Plain... 
...do 


75 




House pump 

Pltchei' pump 




75a 




XJnfailing.a 
Fails. 


76 




Slope. . - 
...do 


78 




18.7 
7.4 
9.7 

10.7 
6.1 
9.6 
9.7 


Deep- well piunp 

(b) 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


79 




...do 


80 




Plateau . 
Slope. . . 
Plateau. 
Slope. . . 
...do. . .. 


Chain pump 

Two-bucket rig 

Chain pump 

do 


Do. 


82 




Do. 


83 




Do. 


84 




Do. 


85 




.do 


Do. 













« 100 feet southeast of well No. 75. & No rig. 

Dug ivells ending in stratified drift in Wolcott. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


0^vner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
water. 


Method of lift. 


Remarks. 


1 




Hilltop.. 
Flam... 
Slope.. . 


Feet. 
860 
490 
455 


Feet. 
19.3 
14.1 
23.9 


Feet. 

13.7 

8.4 

18.9 


Windlass 


6 feet in rook; fails. 


73 




do 


Unfailing. 
Do. 


77 




Chain pump 









Drilled well in Wolcott. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
graphic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Depth 

of 
well. 


Depth 

to 
rock. 


Diame- 
ter. 


Yield 

per 

miaxite. 


Water- 
bearing 

for- 
mation. 


Remarks. 


86 


Carl Watson . . . 


Hilltop- 


Feet. 
700 


Feet. 
105 


Feet. 
15 


Inches. 
6 


Gallons. 
3 


Schist. . . 


For analysis see 
p. 213. 



Springs in Wolcott. 



No. 
on 
PI. 
III. 


Owner. 


Topo- 
gram nic 
position. 


Eleva- 
tion 

above 
sea 

level. 


Tem- 
per- 
ature. 


Yield 

per 

minute. 


Remarks. 


26 




Swale 

Slope 

...do 


Feet. 
520 
825 

750 
490 
600 


"F. 
52 


Gallons. 


Fails. 


41 


Parsonage 


Piped to house; unfailing; for 
assay see p. 213. 


52 




49 
55 
49 


1 


67 




Bv brook... 
...'do 




81 




Unfailing. 









WOLCOTT. 



213 



QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. 

The results of one analysis and two assays of samples of ground 
water collected in Wolcott are given below. The waters are low in 
mineral content and very soft. They are calcium-carbonate in 
chemical character except No. 86, which is of the sodium-carbonate 
type. All the waters have been classed as good for domestic pur- 
poses. Practically no scale-forming or foaming constituents are con- 
tained in the waters, and they are classified as good for use in boilers. 

Cheitiical composition and classification of ground waters in Wolcott. 

[Parts per million; collected Nov. 11, 191 ; analyst, S. C. Dinsmore. Numbers at heads of columns refer 
to corresponding numbers on PI. Ill; see also records corresponding in number, jp. 211-212.] 



Silica (SiOj) 

Iron(Fe)... 

Calcium (Ca) 

Magnesium (Mg) 

Sodium and potassium (Na+K)c. 

Carbonate radicle ( CO3) 

Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 

Sulphate radicle (SO4) 

Chloride radicle (01) 

Nitrate radicle (N O3) 

Total dissolved solids 

Total hardness as CaCOa 

Scale-forming constituents c 

Foaming constituents c 



Chemical character 

Probability of corrosion d. 

Quality for boiler use 

Quality for domestic use. . 



Analysis.a 



Assays. & 



86 


19 


41 


14 
.04 






0.20 


Trace. 


8.2 
3.2 
11 










Trace, 


10 


.0 








24 


19 


32 


6.9 


Trace. 


Trace. 


12 


8 


14 


16 

84 






c44 


c65 


c34 


27 


27 


44 


40 


40 


30 


Trace. 


30 


Na-C03 


Ca-COs 


Ca-C08 


(?) 


(?) 


(?) 


Good. 


Good. 


Good. 


Good. 


Good. 


Good. 



a For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results, see pp. 59-61. 

b Approximations; for methods used and reliability of results, see pp. 59-61. 

c Computed. 

d Based on computed value; (?)= corrosion uncertain. 



PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. 

There are no waterworks serving any residents of Wolcott, but the 
town contains several reservoirs that belong to the systems of adja- 
cent towns. In the southeast corner is a reservoir belonging to the 
Waterbury system. North of it on Falls Brook are two reservoirs of 
the Southington system, and still farther north New Britain has a 
reservoir on Roaring Brook. 



INDEX. 



A. Page. 

Absorption of water by glacial drift 25, 28, 30 

Air lift, pumping with 52-53 

Air-pressure system, use of, for a house water 

service 46 

Algae, growth of, in reservoirs 5&-57, 129, 177 

Analyses of ground waters 72, 

80, 94, 102, 109, 117, 128, 135, 141, 148, 
157, 164, 175, 184, 191, 198, 206, 213 

accuracy of 61 

averages of, by water-bearing formations. 64-65 
computations from , methods employed in 59 

interpretation of .* 61-63 

scope of 59 

Artesian wells, conditions governing 34, 36-38 

Assays of ground waters, accuracy of 61 

averages of, by water-bearing for- 
mations 65 

computations from, methods employed in 60 

interpretation of '.... 01-63 

scope of 59 

Avon, geography of 66, 67-08 

industries of 67 

pubhc water supply of. 73 

quality of ground water in 72 

springs in, records of 72 

statistics of 19, 55, 66 

water-bearing formations in 68-70 

wells in, records of 71-72 

Avon Water Co., source of water supplied by. 68, 73 

B. 

Bailing devices, descriptions of 40-41 

objections to 40, 41 

BakersviUe, location of 159 

Barite, mining of, in Cheshire Ill 

Barkhamsted, geography of 73, 74 

industries of 74-76 

public water supplies in 81 

quality of ground waterin 80 

springs in, records of 80 

statistics of 19, 55, 73, 74 

water-bearing formations in 76-78 

wells in, records of 78-79 

Barndoor Hills, features of 131 

Becket granite gneiss, nature and water con- 
tent of 77, 138-139, 144, 161, 

Bedding planes, water in 32 

Berkshire sctiist, nature and water content 

of. 77,139,144 

Boiler use, defects of waters for 61-62 

rating of waters for 62-63 

Boulder, perched glacial, near East Hartland, 

plate showing 138 

Boulders, evidence of glaciation from 138 

occurrence of, in the till 24 

Bristol, geography of 81-85 

industries of 82 

public water supplies in 94-95 

quality of ground water in 94 



Page. 

Bristol, springsin 93 

statistics of 19,55,82 

water-bearing formations in 85-87 

wells in, records of 87-93 

Bristol granite gneiss, nature and water con- 
tent of 85-87,97-98 

wells in 93 

Bristol Ledge, location and origin of Ill 

Brooksvale, location of 110 

Buckets, automatic tipping and filling 41 

use of, in wells 40-41 

Burlington, geography of 95, 96-97 

industries of 96 

public water supplies in 102, 158 

quality of ground water in 101-102 

springs in, records of 101 

statistics of 19, 55, 96 

water-bearing formations in 97-99 

wells in, records of 100-101 

Burlington Brook and tributaries, flow of 97 

Bushy Hill, location of 130 

C. 

Camp Ground Hill, physiography of. 167-168 

Campville, location of 142 

Canal, early transportation by 20 

Canton, geography of 102- 103, 104-105 

industries of 103 

public water supply in 110 

quaUty of grotmd water in 109 

springs in, records of 109 

statistics of 12,14,19,55,103 

water-bearing formations in 105-107 

wells in, records of 107-108 

Capillary action, influence of 29 

Carbon dioxide, removal of, from reservoirs. . 57 
Cedar trees, preference of, for areas of strati- 
fied drift 28 

CenterhiU, location of 136 

Chambers, Alfred A., analyses by . 117, 135, 198, 206 

Cherry Brook, coinrse and flow of 105 

location of 103 

Cheshire, geography of 110, 111-112 

industries of Ill 

pubhc water supplies in 118 

quahty of ground water in 117 

springs in, records of 117 

statistics of 19, 55, 111 

water-bearing formations in 112-114 

wells in, records of 114-116 

Chittenden, R. H,, analysis by 94 

Circulation of ground water, conditions gov- 
erning 28-30 

Cleveland, H. W., pumping test of well of 49-50 

Climate of the area 12-15 

Collinsville, location of 103 

CoUinsville granite gneiss, nature and water 

content of 105-106, 108 

Collinsville Water Co., service by 102, 129 

215 



216 



INDEX. 



Page. 
Compounce Mountain. See Wolcott Moun- 
tain. 

Compounce Pond, origin of 201 

Conglomerate, "giant," occurrence of 31 

water in 32 

Connecticut, map of, showing areas covered 

by water-supply papers 8 

Connecticut River, area drained by 15 

basin of, precipitation and run-off in 17 

Contamination, sources and prevention of . . . 64 
Cooks Gap, flow of river through 168 

reversal of stream through 151 

Corrosion in boilers, cause of 62-63 

Cream Hill, Cornwall, climatic data for 13 

Crescent Pond, water supply from 176-177, 206 

D. 

Davenport & Keeler, analyses by 158 

Demand for water, increase of 7-8 

Dikes, trap, occurrence of 33, 111-112, 209-210 

Dinsmore, S. C, analyses by 72, 80, 94, 102, 

109, 117, 128, 135, 141, 148, 157, 
164, 175, 184, 191, 198, 206, 213 

Dismal Brook, course of 130-131 

Domestic use, quality of waters for 63 

Drainage of the area 15 

Drift, stratified, absorption of water by 28, 30 

stratified, distribution of 120, 121 

in Pequabuck Valley, plates showing. 22, 84 

mechanical analyses of 27 

nature and water content of. . . 27, 70, 78, 99, 
107, 114, 123, 133, 145, 153, 162, 
• 170, 180-181, 188, 195, 203, 210 

origia and deposition of 26-2S, 70 

recognition of 28 

wells in 71, 72, 79, 87, 90, 101, 

108, 115-116, 125-126, 134, 139, 140, 147, 
155, 163, 171-174, 183,190,196,204,212 

Drumltnc, occurrence of 151 

origin of 26 

"rock," origin and occurrence of. . . 200, 202-203 

E. 

East Litchfield, location of 142 

Eightmile River, water supply from 207 

Elevation, range of 11 

EUis, A. J., work of 9 

Ellis, E. E., Gregory, H. E., and, cited 11 

Ellsworth ram, description of. 46 

Esker, The Windrow, near East Hartland, 

plate sho\sang ■ 138 

Eskers, occxnrence of 27-28, 131, 138, 201 

F. 

Falls Brook, water supply from 206 

Farmington, geography of 118-119, 119-122 

industries of 119 

pubUc water supplies in 128-129 

quality of groimd water in 127-128 

springs in, records of 127 

statistics of 19, 119 

v.-ater-bearing formations in 122-124 

wells in, records of 124-127 

Farmington-Quinnipiac VaUey, description of 11-12 

Farmington River, areas drained by 15, 194 

course and tributaries of 121-122 

discharge of 121 



Page. 
Farmington River, East Branch of, course 

and tributaries of 74,75,137 

scenery on 75 

West Branch of, course of 74, 75-76 

valley of 137-138 

Farmington Water Co., service by 128-129 

Faulting, block, results of 150-151, 193 

See also Fissures. 

Fissures, occurrence of 32 

springs issuing from 39 

water in 33, 36 

Foaming of water in boilers, causes of 61-62 

Forestville, location of 81 

pubUc water supply of M 

wells in 87 

Formations, water-bearing, nature and distri- 
bution of 23-36 

G. 

Galleries, infiltration, description of 50-51 

infiltration, use of, at Lowell, Mass 57 

Geography of the area 10-20 

Glaciers, material deposited by 24-30 

Gneiss, origin of 35-36 

water in 69,77,86,98, 

105-106, 113, 139, 140, 143-144, 
161, 180, 183, 187-188,202,209 

Granby, geography of 129, 131 

industries of 130 

pubUc water supply in 135 

quahty of ground water in 135 

springs in, records of 135 

statistics of 19, 55, 130 

water-bearing formations in 132-133 

wells in, records of 133-134 

Granite, water in 69 

Gra-Rock Spring, analysis of water from 109 

Gravity water system, description of 43-44 

Great Plains, location of 166 

Green Woods, location of 159 

Greenwood Pond, location of 76 

Gregory, Herbert E . , earUer work of 8-9 

and EUis, E. E., cited U 

Rice, W. N., and 30-31,76 

Greystone, location of 177 

Grimes Brook, water supply from 198 

Groimd- water surface, depth to 29-30 

H. 
.Hancock, location of 177 

Hancock Brook, area drained by 209 

"Hardheads." See Boulders. 

"Hardpan." SeeTm. 

" Hardware city,' ' New Britain called 150 

Hartford, climatic data for 13 

compensatory reservoir constructed by. . 75, 

81,166 
reservoir for, on Nepaug River. 102, 110, 165-166 
reservoir No. 4 of 128 

Hartland, geography of 136, 137-138 

industries of 136 

quahty of ground water in 141 

springs in, records of 141 

statistics of 19, 55, 136 

water-bearing formations in 138-139 

wells in, records of 139-140 

Harwinton, geography of 142-143 

industries of 142 



INDEX. 



217 



Page. 

Harwinton, quality of ground water in 148 

springs in, records of 148 

statistics of 19, 55, 142 

view northwest from northeastern part of, 

plate showing 22 

water-bearing formations in 143-145 

wells in, records of 145-147 

History, geologic, of the area 20-23 

Holts HUl, altitude of 178 

Honeypot Brook, sources of 112 

Hoosac schist, nature and water content of. . 76, 85, 
98, 105, 112-113, 122, 132, 138- 
139, 161, 179, 180, 187, 202, 209 

Hoskins, location of 191 

Housatonic River basin, precipitation and 

rmi off in 16 

Huckleberry Hill, location and altitude of . . . 68 
Hungary, location of 130 

I. 

Industries of Connecticut 7 

of the area .• 19-20 

See also the several towns. 

Information on ground water, need for 8-9 

sources of 9-10 

Iron, removal of, from water in reservoirs 57 

Irrigation, pumping of water for 43 

J. 

Joints, occurrence of 32 

spacing of 36 

springs issuing from 39 

water in 32-33, 36 

K. 

Kames, occurrence of 28 

origin of 26 

Kettle holes, example of, at Burlington Cen- 
ter, description of 96 

example of, at Burlington Center, plate 

showing 84 

at West Avon, origin of 68 

occurrence of 27, 201 

L. 

Lake, ancient, in Simsbury, origin of 193-194 

Lakes, drift deposited in 26-27 

Leadmine Brook, area drained by 161 

course and discharge of 143 

Loams, stony, mechanical analyses of 25 

Location and extent of the area 10 

Lovely Street, location of 67 

LoweU, Mass., public water supply of 57-58 

M. 

Mad River, course of 208-209 

Manganese, removal of, from water Ln reser- 
voirs 57 

Map, geologic, of the Southington-Granby 

area In pocket. 

of Connecticut, showing areas covered by 

water-supply papers 8 

topographic, of the Southington-Granby 

area In pocket. 

Maple Hollow, location of 159 

Marion, location of 199 

Marsh Brook, flow of a 85 

MechanicsvUle, location of 129 

Meriden, reservoir for , 112, 118 



I'age. 

Milky appearance in wator, cause of 177 

Mill River, area drained by 15 

course of 112 

MiUdale, location of 199 

MixvUle, location of 110 

Morgan River, course and history of 74, 76 

Mount Sandford, clevat ion of Ill 

Mountains, elevations of 11 

N. 

Naugatuck, reservoir of 191 

Naugatuck River, area drained by 15, 186 

Nepaug, location of 159 

Nepaug River, course of 105 

discharge of 160 

reservoirs on 102, 110, 165-166 

New Britain, geography of 149, 150-151 

industries of 150 

public water supply of 157-158 

quality of ground water in 156-157, 158 

reservoir of 213 

statistics of 13,14,15,19,149 

springs in, records of 156 

water-bearing formations in 151-153 

weUs in, records of 154-156 

WhigvUle reservoir of 102 

New Hartford, geography of 159, 160-161 

industries of 159, 160 

pubUc water supplies of 165-166 

quahty of ground water in 164 

springs in, records of 164 

statistics of 15, 19, 55, 160 

water-bearing formations in 161-162 

weUs in, records of 162-163 

New Hartford Water Co., service by 165 

New Haven Water Co., reservoir of 191 

service by 118 

Nod Brook, course of 68 

North Branch, flow of 85 

O. 

Occurrence of ground water, modes of 32-33 

P. 

Parmelee, H. S., hydraulic ram used by 46 

Patton Brook, water supply from 207 

Pegville, location of 129 

Pequabuck, location of 177 

Pequabuck River, present and former courses 

of 168 

drift deposits on 83-84 

flow of 84,168 

North Branch of, flow of 85 

tributaries of 96-97 

valley of, stratified drift in, plates showing 22, 84 

Phelps Brook, flow of 97 

Pine Hill, altitude of 178 

Pine Meadow, ancient lake at 160 

location of 159 

Pine trees, preference of, for areas of stratified 

drift 28 

white, near Granby station, plate show- 
ing 120 

prevalence of 130, 131, 192 

yellow, near Farmington station, plate 

showing 120 

prevalence of 120, 122 



218 



INDEX. 



Page. 
"Pitting." Sec Corrosion. 

Plainville, geography of 166-168 

industries of 167 

public water supply in 176-177 

quality of ground water in 175 

springs in, records of 175 

statistics of 19, 167 

water-bearing formations in 169-170 

wells in, records of 171-174 

Plainville Water Co. , service by 176-177 

Plantsville, location of 199 

Plateau, dissected, northwest of Harwinton, 

plate showing 22 

Pleasant V alley , location of 73 

Plymouth, geography of 177-179 

industries of 178 

public water supply in 184-185 

quality of ground water in 184 

springs in, records of 183 

statistics of 19, 55, 178 

water-bearing formations in 179-181 

wells in, records of 181-183 

Poland River, drainage area of 143 

water supply from 94-95, 185 

Pollcville, communal water supply at 95 

Pollution, sources and prevention of 64 

Pomperaug River, monthly run-oIT of. 16 

Pond Ledge Hill , location and alti tude of — 68 

Population of Connecticut 7 

of the area, density of 18-20 

See also the several towns. 

Pores of rocks, water in 32 

Potholes, origin and occurrence of 208 

Precipitation, absorption of 28 

ratio of run-off to 15-17 

records of 12-15 

Prospect, geography of 185, 186 

industries in 185 

public water supplies in 191 

quality of groimd water in 190-191 

springs in, records of 190 

statistics of 19, 55 

Vater-bearing formations in 18&-188 

wells in, records of 188-190 

Prospect granite gneiss, nature and water- 
content of 187,202 

Pump, centrifugal, description of 43 

chain, description of 42-43 

deep-well, description of 41-42 

displacement, description of 41-42 

double-acting , description of 42 

metal bucket, description of 43 

pitcher, description of 41-42 

rubber bucket, description of 42-43 

Purification of public water supplies 56-57,129 

Q. 

Quality of ground water, tests of 58-66 

Quinnipiac Ridge, description of 82-8-3 

Quinnipiac River, areas drained by 15, 201, 209 

capture of Pequabuck River by 168 

course of 112, 168 

tributaries of 112, 201 

Quinnipiac River valley, description of 11-12 

R. 

Railroads in the area 20 

Rainfall. See Precipitation. 



Page. 

Rams, hydraulic, descriptions of. 44,46 

Ratlum Mountain, altitude of 104 

Rattlesnake Mountain, altitude of 119 

Recovery of ground water, means of 39-66 

Redstone Hill, physiograph y of 168 

Requirements for water, increase of 7-8 

Reservoirs, formations serving as 23-36 

Rice, W. N., and Gregory, H. E., cited... 30-31,76 

Rig, counterbalanced, description of 41 

one-bucket and two-bucket, descriptions 

of 40 

sweep, description of 40 

wheel and axle, description of 40 

windlass, description of 40-41 

Riverton, location of 73 

Roaring Brook, area drained by 186 

flow of 105 

water supply from 158 

Rocks, crystalline, distribution of. 34 

crystalline, lithology of 35-36 

water in 36 

Run-ofl, ratio of, to precipitation 15-17 

Russell, H, L., Tumeaure, F. E., and, cited. . 50-51 

S. 

Salmon Brook, tributaries of. 131 

Sandstone, nature and water content of. — 31,32, 
69, 87, 93, 97, 106, 113, 116, 122, 127, 132, 134, 
151-153, 169, 174, 186-187, 194-195, 202, 205 

Satans Kingdom, gorge at 104, 160 

Satans Kangdom Spring Water Co., devel- 
opment of springs of 54-55 

Scale, formation of, in boilers 61 

Schist, origin and types of 35 

nature and water content of 76-77, 

85, 98, 105, 112-113, 122,132,138-139, 
143-144, 161, 179-180, 187-188,202,209 

Sessions, J. H., & Sons, dug well of 39-40 

Shale, nature and water content of 32, 

122-123, 132, 169, 174, 202, 205 
Shuttle Meadow reservoir, construction of. 157-158 

location of 207 

Sills, trap, occurrence of 33 

Simsbury, geography of. 191-194 

industries of 192 

public water supplies in 198-199 

quality of ground water in 197-198 

springs in, records of 197 

statistics of 13, 14, 19, 55, 192 

water-bearing formations in 194-195 

Simsbury Water Co., service by 198 

Siphon water-service pipe, description of. — 43-44 

South Mountain, altitude of 83 

South Mountain Brook, flow of 161 

Southington, geography of 199-201 

industries in 199 

public water supplies in 206-207 

quality of ground water in 205-206 

reservoirs in 213 

springs in, records of 205 

statistics of 12, 14, 19, 55, 199 

water-bearing formations in 203-203 

wells in, records of 202-205 

Southington Waterworks Commission, serv- 
ice by 206 

Southington-Granty area, geologic map of 

In pocket. 



INDEX. 



219 



K 



Page. 
Southington-Granby area, topographic map 

of In pocket. 

Spaces, lamellar, water in 36 

Spindle Hill, altitude of 208 

Spring, definition of 38, 39 

Springs, development of 54-55 

records of 72, 

80, 93, 101, 109, 117, 127, 135, 141, 148, 
156, 164, 175, 183, 190, 197, 205, 212 

seepage, origin of 38 

so-called, striking of, in digging wells 26 

stratum, origin of 38-39 

yield of ^ 

Stanley Works (Inc.), well of 152-153 

Stratton Brook, area drained by 194 

discharge of 105 

water supply from 198 

Supply, public, algae in 56-57 

public, driven wells for, locating of . . 55-56 

purification of 56-57, 129 

surface water used for 56, 57 

testing of 56 

T. 

Talcott Mountain, aqueduct through 166 

location and altitude of 66-67 

Tariflville, location of 191 

Temperature, fluctuations of 65-66 

Tennule River, flow of 186 

sources of 112 

Terraces, formation and remains of 22-23 

Terrjrville, location of 177 

TerryviUe Water Co., service by 184-185 

Testing of water supplies for public use 56 

Thomaston granite gneiss, nature and water 

content of 143-144, 17^180 

Till, absorption of water by 25, 30 

boulders in 24 

lenses of washed material in 25 

nature and water content of 24- 

26, 69-70, 77,9S-99, 106, 113, 123- 
124, 132, 139, 144-145, 153,162, 169- 
170, 180, 188, 195, 202-203, 210 

recognition of 28 

wells in 71, 

78-79, 87, 88-90, 100, 107-108, 114-115, 124- 
125, 133-134, 139-140, 145-147, 154, 162-163, 
171, 181-182, 188-189, 196, 203, 210-212 

Tobacco, growing of 67, 68, 73, 103, 130, 160,192 

Todd Hollow Brook, water supply from 185 

Tolles, location of 177 

Topography of the area 10-12 

Town Hill, location of 159 

Towns, list of 4, 9, 18 

Trap rock, "Anterior," "Main," and "Pos- 
terior" sheets of, distribution of 33, 
111-112, 120-121, 150, 168, 169, 186, 193, 202 

joints in 34 

lithology of 33-34 

water in 34, 69, 106, 123, 127, 132, 151- 

153, 169, 174, 186, 194-195, 202 
Traut & Hine ^Manufacturing Co., artesian 

well of 34, 37-38, 152 

Triassic sedimentary rocks, distribution of. . . 30 
lithology and stratigraphy of 30-32 



Page. 

Triassic sedimentary rocks, water in 32-33 

Triassic trap rocks, distribution of. .33, 111-112, 120- 
121, 150, 168, 169, 186, 192, 202, 209-210 

joints in 34 

lithology of 33-34 

water in 34 

Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Co., well 

of 167,169 

Turnoaure, F. E., and Russell, H. L., cited. 50-51 

U. 

Unionville, location of 118 

Unionville Water Co. , service by 129 

Upson, Edwin L., pumping test of well of . . . 47-48 

V. 
Village Water Co. , of New Hartford, service of 165 
of Simsbury, service by 198 

W. 

Waring, G. A., work of 9 

Wassong, Edward, capacity of well of 50 

Water table. See Ground-water surface. 

Waterbury , reservoirs of 191, 213 

Waterbury gneiss, nature and water content 

of 98, 144, 161, 180, 187, 209 

well in 144 

Waters, surface, discharge of 15-17 

Weatogue, location of 191 

Well, definition of 39 

Wells, deepening of 70, 77, 99, 123 

drilled, description of 52-53 

records of 72, 93, 108, 116, 127, 134, 140, 

147, 156, 174, 183, 190, 197, 205, 212 

statistics of 54 

driven, description of 51 

records of 92, 116, 126, 155, 174, 197, 204 

use of, for public supplies 56, 57, 58 

dug, construction of 39-40 

lifting devices for 40-46 

pumping tests on 46-50 

records of 71, 78-79, 88-92, 100-101, 

107-108, 114-116, 124-126, 133-134, 139- 
140, 145-147, 154-155, 162-163, 171-174, 
181-183, 188-190, 196, 203-204, 210-212 

West Peak range, altitude of 200 

Westover Plain Water Co., service by 199 

Whig\alle, location of 95 

reservoir near 158 

Windrow esker near East Hartland, descrii)- 

tion of 138 

plate showing 138 

Windmill, pumping with 46 

Wolcott , geography of 207-209 

industries of 208 

quality of ground waterin 213 

reservoirs in 213 

springs in, records of 212 

statistics of 19, 55, 208 

water-bearing formations in 209-210 

wells in, records of 210-212 

Wolcott Moimtain, formations in 200 

reservoir on 158 

Woodlands, extent and importance of 17 

See also under the several towns. 
Woodtick, location of 207 



O 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



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